Cinnamon74

UNITED seat assignments. I have bulk fare seats, regular economy, booked on a United Flight through United Vacations. My seats are in the last row. No other economy seats are available to change on the airline website. I called United and they indicated that there are 27 unsold seats left, but they are not able to change my seat assignments. How can I get around this, beside checking in at the 24 hour mark? I have had other reps change my seats when none were showing available. Any advice. I can't sit in the last row for a 5 hour flight. Premium economy not available for this flight. I do have 4 seats together for my family. It seems like basic economy folks will get a better seat assignment than me.

WineCountryUA

Welcome to FT!, Cinnamon74
Without a bit more information (aircraft type, routes, day of travel is you are comfortable with that), it may be hard to give specific answers.

Since no mention of UA elite status. will assume none.

Being a bulk ticket should not be blocking available seats from you. But UA does hold back some seats to get them some flexibility in making seat assignments closer to flight time. Some will open up at check-in, some not until the gate. Getting seating together for a family of 4 may be challenging,

You say you are in the last row and that is a problem. Where would you like to be? Why?

Premium Economy (if the aircraft has it) is a different fare class and would require a ticket change which generally is not allowed for Bulk tickets.

Economy Plus (extra leg space including bulkheads, exit rows,...) and Preferred Economy (closer to the front, standard economy seats) are seats that require a seat fee but you should be eligible for those seats -- again if the seatmap is not showing those seats, it may be difficult to get four together closer to departure.

Regularly checking to see if UA opens up more seats for assignment closer to departure is one thing to do -- a week or two out. and especially 2-3 days out.

A potential issue is UA is considering different aircraft options for the flight and therefore UA does not want to oversell the flight if it may go on an aircraft with fewer seats. This should become clearer 2-3 days before travel.

phkc070408

For some reason, United sometimes blocks all seat assignments in Y. We've seen this a few times, and it was when we booked about 30-45 days out. We were still able to select an Economy Plus seat, but we had to pay for it (which we intended on doing anyway).

The one that comes to mind we were doing a one-way CAN-NRT-EWR in Mid-September 2015. CAN-NRT was on NH (ANA Airlines) and NRT-EWR was in UA The whole trip was a United ticket. We booked with no seat assignment on NH and were only allowed to select seats in E+ on the UA flight with payment.

In our case, it was still peak season and suspect while UA was willing to sell Y seats, all of the Y seats had been claimed. This usually changes a few days prior to departure when all of the elites move up to E+. Even then, every once in a while someone gets lucky and get's an E+ seat without paying for it, but it's not available for pre-selection.

SeamusSA

Have you tried calling United Vacations? Though they are an entirely separate entity from UA, they have been helpful for us in the past with bookings made through them. Do bear in mind, thoogh, that asking for four seats together is quite a demand under any circumstances, so be prepared to split up to get better seats.

Cinnamon74

The flight is EWR-LIR. Thank you for the in depth reply. I will certainly keep checking for seats to open up. Premium Economy is not an option, just E+. E+ not available to purchase, but hoping those folks get moved to First, which is still available. In fact, I am eligible to upgrade to first with miles, on the waitlist, plus a fee. I'm not doing that for the price they want, but I was surprised that this is an option since I am just a general member.

WineCountryUA

Correct, Premium Plus (Premium Economy) is not available (nor planned) for that route.
If E+ is filled, it is unlikely four adjacent seats will open up even after upgrades clear,
Anyone with a MP account can request an upgrade but if waitlisted without status, your chances are poor