Owinsmom

I do not fly much anymore so don't know the "ropes" anymore either. We are flying to Europe in less than 2 weeks. We are in the cheap seats in the back of the 777. I notice that the majority of all the seats in the "upcharge" sections are still available. Im thinking of upgrading to Economy plus at least on our way there, so we're hopefully more rested. Is it normal for them to reduce the prices of these seats in order to sell them out? It seems crazy to me that only roughly 1/3 of the plane is sold out with less than 2 weeks to go. Thank you so much for your help.

lhrsfo

E+ is dynamically priced so may be slightly cheaper (although remember silvers can take them from T-24.

Business tends to sell more close to departure but if it looks as though there will be spare availability, then upgrades will become available for purchase and/or mileage awards will open up.

saltydog75

You might find this thread helpful:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...rture-tod.html

It'll tell you what people were offered to upgrade from economy to business/first at time of departure (i.e. when you check in). Not sure where you're going (or coming from), but a poster recently noted that a Chicago -> Munich upgrade was $1500 20 hours before departure and went down to $499 90 minutes before departure.

Others can weigh in, but my thought would be: if you definitely want to get out of economy, you might as well go with economy plus now. The price isn't going to go down dramatically in the way a business/first upgrade would, so you might as well lock it in now and be certain you'll get it. On the other hand, if you're willing to roll the dice and go all the way down to the wire, you could get a deal on a business/first upgrade - but then you're risking possibly being stuck in economy if everything else gets taken.

Edit: note that if you're going the latter path and trying to snipe a cheap biz/first upgrade, you'd probably want to do online checkin as soon as it opens up (should be 24 hrs before the flight) and see what price is offered on the "change my seat" upgrade. IIRC you can see the price to upgrade before you finalize your checkin, so you could just start the checkin process every so often to see what the fee is and then back out if you don't want to accept it.

Owinsmom

Thank you very much. This seems like good advice and I appreciate it. We originate in Charleston - Chicago - Brussels. I have a hard time justifying $350 to upgrade (2 of us) just to get a wee bit of extra legroom, but the other part of me says, we need the sleep as we have a very fast paced trip ahead of us.

hughw

For me and my wife (5-9 and 5-4), it's not about the legroom....it's more about not having the seat in front of you reclined almost into your face...and there's somewhat more chance of having the middle seat empty...we always take a window and aisle in an empty row if possible, and then if someone takes the middle, they're always more than happy to switch to one or the other.

Owinsmom

I appreciate this information!! All I was thinking about is leg room. I'm 5'11" and haven't taken a transatlantic flight since 2006 so a lot has changed.

Kacee

Agree the price will not go down dramatically as departure nears, but the price will swing up and down within a defined range. If you watch the prices for a week or so, you'll get a feel what the range is, and can make the purchase at the bottom.

warrenw

I've had instances where I call a month out and an upgrade to biz is $1k. Day of departure (T-24) still $1k and then at the check in counter I've gotten CPU'd (but that was due to irrops, late flight day before had a bunch of people change flights overselling Y and 15 open seats in biz) and I've also then gotten offers for $2k at check in - so it goes both ways.

Owinsmom

Yes, I've been watching them for about a week and the 2 outside seats (window and aisle) are consistently $276 and the center seat is $267 and has been that price when I have checked off and on for the last month. I don't know whether that is a high price or a good price.

THank you all for your help.. It is greatly appreciated.

rustykettel

I'd also add that if you pay for E+ and then take a paid upgrade offer (First or Business), your E+ fee is refunded. Usually it's automatic and appears back on the form of payment within a couple of days. Sometimes you'll have to manually submit the refund request.

Kacee

It may be UA's going rate but it's a lot of money for 4 inches of extra legroom.

If you're thinking about it, at that price, you might also consider a 1-year subscription. It's $899 for two people, which would cover you both directions. That obviously makes more sense if you're going to fly UA again over the next year.
E+
Subscription.

gusd

Is this new? I've always thought E+ fees are fixed for a specific seat for a specific plane on a specific route, and would not change if getting closer to departure. Cheaper seats previously unavailable becoming available (e.g. a middle seat previously not available becoming available and cheaper than an isle seat) is one thing, but that is not dynamic pricing based on time of departure. Or am I wrong?

findark

E+ pricing is dynamic, but not in any predictable way. Specifically, it does not get cheaper closer to departure, it just fluctuates arbitrarily over time within a band.

Owinsmom

My apologies - I don't know where my head was at....the prices should be $176 and $167, which makes a huge difference. That subscription option looks interesting. You've all been so helpful and I really do appreciate all the help!!!! Being a "senior" and traveling being such a pain anymore, I really am very grateful. I don't know what I would do without forums and the wonderful people like y'all that help.