PP ticket, but no available seats to choose from?
Nov 1, 2019, 2:38 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: SFO
Posts: 3,939
PP ticket, but no available seats to choose from?
What now?
I have a PP ticket SFO-EWR-SFO (UA 2065/583 on Nov 23/29), but can't select a seat as nothing is available (other than 3 in Economy and 2 in Business)
I have a PP ticket SFO-EWR-SFO (UA 2065/583 on Nov 23/29), but can't select a seat as nothing is available (other than 3 in Economy and 2 in Business)
Nov 1, 2019, 2:44 pm
#2
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Probably overbooked? Not uncommon given the relative cabin sizes. Supported upgrades will be cleared and then op-ups if necessary.
Only 4 unassigned in J on the outbound, so probably not overbooked by much.
Only 4 unassigned in J on the outbound, so probably not overbooked by much.
Nov 1, 2019, 2:57 pm
#3
Moderator: United Airlines
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There is a smaller chance there is a blocked seat but have not seen that in PP
Would have no concerns other than you will get whatever seat feels up.
Nov 17, 2019, 7:09 am
#6
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You're still a week away from the flight. United is not going to upgrade anyone who is waitlisted with an instrument or miles with just a few p.s. (business) seats available and it sounds like no one has cancelled/changed their reservation that already had a seat assignment in PP.
DO NOT worry. You will be sitting in PP or p.s./business on this flight for the reasons already explained by other posters above. You just may need to wait until the airport to get your seat assignment.
-RM
DO NOT worry. You will be sitting in PP or p.s./business on this flight for the reasons already explained by other posters above. You just may need to wait until the airport to get your seat assignment.
-RM
Last edited by RobOnLI; Nov 17, 2019 at 7:19 am Reason: Clarify who I meant would be upgraded (GPU/RPU/miles)
Nov 17, 2019, 7:12 am
#7
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You're still a week away from the flight. United is not going to upgrade anyone with just a few p.s. (business) seats available and it sounds like no one has cancelled/changed their reservation that already had a seat assignment in PP.
DO NOT worry. You will be sitting in PP or p.s./business on this flight for the reasons already explained by other posters above. You just may need to wait until the airport to get your seat assignment.
-RM
DO NOT worry. You will be sitting in PP or p.s./business on this flight for the reasons already explained by other posters above. You just may need to wait until the airport to get your seat assignment.
-RM
Nov 17, 2019, 7:18 am
#8
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-RM
Nov 24, 2019, 1:28 am
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: SFO
Posts: 3,939
This did not end well, here's how it unravelled (a tad detailed, so everybody has the full context) 
tl;dr: Paid for PP, flew in E-, got $250 ETC mail on arrival. Is this par for the course? What can I do better next time?
tl;dr: Paid for PP, flew in E-, got $250 ETC mail on arrival. Is this par for the course? What can I do better next time?
- Couldn't checkin at the 24hr mark as "docs needed to be verified" (US passport, final destination Ghana)
- Thinking this might turn to be a cluster, checked in 3hrs before. Was told since I still didn't have a seat, couldn't be on the upgrade list (!) despite it saying "upgrade requested" on the reservations page
- Was assigned a middle seat in row 60 (the very last row) just before boarding ... it's a looooong walk to the end of the 787!
- GA came by in a few minutes with a better seat (aisle a few rows up ... but still E-)
- Just before the gates closed, GA comes by again and asks me to move to PP as "there's a no show". He said the app would refresh once he got off the plane and fixed a few things (it never did, showed somebody else's upgrade as having cleared into PP). I didn't think twice about this at the time, as I had paid for a PP seat, figured it was a glitch,
- 1hr into the flight, the purser comes by to say there was a mistake and requests me to switch with the guy in E- (the upgraded passenger whose name appeared in the app). The purser happened to be around when the GA asked me to move to PP, so atleast he knew I didn't just move to PP on my own
- Purser was extremely apologetic, filed out the paperwork for ETC which I got on landing.
Nov 24, 2019, 1:33 am
#12
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: SAN
Programs: 1K (since 2008), *G (since 1990), 1MM
Posts: 3,215
This did not end well, here's how it unravelled (a tad detailed, so everybody has the full context)
tl;dr: Paid for PP, flew in E-, got $250 ETC mail on arrival. Is this par for the course? What can I do better next time?
tl;dr: Paid for PP, flew in E-, got $250 ETC mail on arrival. Is this par for the course? What can I do better next time?
- Couldn't checkin at the 24hr mark as "docs needed to be verified" (US passport, final destination Ghana)
- Thinking this might turn to be a cluster, checked in 3hrs before. Was told since I still didn't have a seat, couldn't be on the upgrade list (!) despite it saying "upgrade requested" on the reservations page
- Was assigned a middle seat in row 60 (the very last row) just before boarding ... it's a looooong walk to the end of the 787!
- GA came by in a few minutes with a better seat (aisle a few rows up ... but still E-)
- Just before the gates closed, GA comes by again and asks me to move to PP as "there's a no show". He said the app would refresh once he got off the plane and fixed a few things (it never did, showed somebody else's upgrade as having cleared into PP). I didn't think twice about this at the time, as I had paid for a PP seat, figured it was a glitch,
- 1hr into the flight, the purser comes by to say there was a mistake and requests me to switch with the guy in E- (the upgraded passenger whose name appeared in the app). The purser happened to be around when the GA asked me to move to PP, so atleast he knew I didn't just move to PP on my own
- Purser was extremely apologetic, filed out the paperwork for ETC which I got on landing.
You should contact United immediately that you paid an O/A/R fare (i.e. PP) and received a Y seat and request a refund for the fare difference.
Nov 24, 2019, 2:23 am
#13
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This did not end well, here's how it unravelled (a tad detailed, so everybody has the full context)
tl;dr: Paid for PP, flew in E-, got $250 ETC mail on arrival. Is this par for the course? What can I do better next time?
tl;dr: Paid for PP, flew in E-, got $250 ETC mail on arrival. Is this par for the course? What can I do better next time?
- Couldn't checkin at the 24hr mark as "docs needed to be verified" (US passport, final destination Ghana)
That being said, you should be due a $500 ETC per GG OVS DOWNGRADE on SFO-EWR, plus a refund of the difference in fare since you paid for a higher cabin. Water under the bridge, but I also would have put up far more of a fuss whenever first assigned a seat not in the cabin paid for... that's simply outrageous behavior by UA and honestly remains a huge problem that downgrades are completely exempt from US IDB regulations and there is no EC261 equivalent.
Nov 24, 2019, 4:39 am
#14
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: NYC, LON
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Posts: 2,767
Nov 24, 2019, 5:00 am
#15
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Posts: 100,369
This did not end well, here's how it unravelled (a tad detailed, so everybody has the full context)
tl;dr: Paid for PP, flew in E-, got $250 ETC mail on arrival. Is this par for the course? What can I do better next time?
tl;dr: Paid for PP, flew in E-, got $250 ETC mail on arrival. Is this par for the course? What can I do better next time?
- Couldn't checkin at the 24hr mark as "docs needed to be verified" (US passport, final destination Ghana)
- Thinking this might turn to be a cluster, checked in 3hrs before. Was told since I still didn't have a seat, couldn't be on the upgrade list (!) despite it saying "upgrade requested" on the reservations page
- Was assigned a middle seat in row 60 (the very last row) just before boarding ... it's a looooong walk to the end of the 787!
- GA came by in a few minutes with a better seat (aisle a few rows up ... but still E-)
- Just before the gates closed, GA comes by again and asks me to move to PP as "there's a no show". He said the app would refresh once he got off the plane and fixed a few things (it never did, showed somebody else's upgrade as having cleared into PP). I didn't think twice about this at the time, as I had paid for a PP seat, figured it was a glitch,
- 1hr into the flight, the purser comes by to say there was a mistake and requests me to switch with the guy in E- (the upgraded passenger whose name appeared in the app). The purser happened to be around when the GA asked me to move to PP, so atleast he knew I didn't just move to PP on my own
- Purser was extremely apologetic, filed out the paperwork for ETC which I got on landing.