UA82 - EWR-DEL, aircraft swap to plane with premium economy, access?
 

I’m flying EWR-DEL in couple days. When I checked the seat ma today, I was moved to another economy plus than originally selected. Seat maps looks different from what is showed yesterday. Did a little research and the plane configuration appears to have 3 rows of premium plus class and it is allowing me to select a premium plus seat (i’m UA Gold).

from everything I read, my understanding is that premium plus requires a miles upgrade so i’m a little confused why it is letting me select that seat. Ultimately, the question I have is whether they will kick me to back of the plane.

Any thoughts?

Not all routes actively sell premium plus as not all 777-200s are outfitted with premium plus. EWR-DEL is one of them, so the premium plus seats are assigned as just regular economy plus. There are no premium plus service enhancements on this flight as it’s not being sold as a flight with premium plus.

Personally I’d pick one of those seats over a regular E+ seat, unless it was only middle seats.

Thank you. Quick follow-up question. I understand that there are no service enhancements but it is still a better seat (more pitch, width and recline compared to regular E+), right?

Yes. Unless there's any equipment changes it'll be a Premium Plus seat.

Yes the seats are the same as a domestic first seat, with a leg rest. So wider, more leg room, and more recline. If a window or aisle is available I’d snag the seat without thinking twice. I might take a window or aisle E+ seat, over a middle Premium Plus though.

Thank you both. Very helpful.

see

(mostly talk about J seat,some mention about PE)
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...rocess-12.html


do keep an eye on seat assignment - cases where planes swap back and forth, and you get a E- middle

see this for which seats are good on a polaris 772
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...ts-77j-21.html

thanks very much. I will be watching

The regular E+ seats on the 777 at 10x give you 19.4" of width with the aisles being 1" narrower than usual (they are 18" not the usual 19"). That seat is a full 2" narrower than the seat on the 777 at 9x. It is narrower than the seats on a 737 by slightly more than 1/2 inch in width. The Aisles in PE are (I think) the usual 19" wide, and the seats therefore give you 24" of width. (I am measuring actual space, not just the seat pan as UA does to try to game the system). Pitch is 38" vs 34" in E+.

Bottom line is that I would fly on a PE middle seat (it is just like flying on a window seat in F on a single aisle plane, just more leg room) but I am not going to fly on any 10x 777 in E+, seat is just too narrow.

And if you get the bulkhead PE seat, it is easy to get into and out of as no one is reclining into you.

I’ve had this situation on EWR-BOM on the 77W, before they started selling P+ (Feb last year). It’s a very nice seat with good recline and a proper leg rest at every seat (like DL; AA only has leg rests at the bulkhead). I took the bulkhead aisle in the center 4 and my seat mate in the middle could get out without disturbing me. So any bulkhead would do. I slept for a few hours with no problems. Much better than E+, which I had on a non-polarized 772 flying back from DEL (and E+ on a 10 across is worse).

It is economy service though and the food is slop, so take a few snacks for the ride.

Thank you. No Aisle or window is available but I have 20E bulkhead seat selected. It sounds like it is still a better choice than E+. There are 8 Polaris seats still open so I may be able to get window or aisle if I catch an seat from upgrading pax in time. Thanks again.

I'd say you're doing exactly the right thing. Keep watching, pretty decent odds you'll get a window or aisle open up, and I too would take that PP middle over an E+ window or aisle as the legroom is everything in my book.

Quick update. I managed to get an aisle seat. Writing this before take off.

I will post about service but the blanket and pillow are saks fifth and there is a Star Wars branded amenity kit as well as slippers. Not sure about food service but so far, it is very close to the premium plus product as UA is advertising.