Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > United Airlines | MileagePlus
Reload this Page >

Is United now actively trying to block party of two, window+aisle bookings?

Is United now actively trying to block party of two, window+aisle bookings?

Old Feb 26, 2021, 4:02 pm
  #151  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: LAX/TPE
Programs: United 1K, JAL Sapphire, SPG Lifetime Platinum, National Executive Elite, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 42,008
Originally Posted by HNLbasedFlyer
While I don't consider it theft - I do think UA is in the right if they moving companions together who left a middle open. People can sit together - choose aisle-aisle, or certainly fly another airline if they believe other airlines aren't doing this.

My personal opinion - people book this to intentionally try to keep the middle open - and while it may be a good faith choice of seats, it really is gaming the system. This one wants a window one wants a aisle is easily solved by one person choosing a window and the other taking the aisle across the aisle - then everyone gets what they want, including UA
How is this intentionally keeping the middle seat open? Do two customers who booked window/aisle have some secret authority over the gate agents to force them to keep the seat open? No such authority exists, so the GA is free to assign anyone to a vacant middle - this constant hand-wringing over a secret conspiracy that doesn't exist is really over the top.

What United *should* be doing is automatically blocking the middle seat beside or between GS/1K passengers and keep it blocked until absolutely needed by the flight load. The real problem is clearing BE customers and non-status standby customers into exit row and Y+ seats when there are vacant seats in the back they should be assigned to.
SPN Lifer, Xyzzy, Boraxo and 1 others like this.
bocastephen is offline  
Old Feb 26, 2021, 4:15 pm
  #152  
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: HNL
Programs: UA GS4MM, MR LT Plat, Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,447
Originally Posted by bocastephen
How is this intentionally keeping the middle seat open?
If it isn't intentional, why don't people book Window - and across the aisle?

Of course it is intentional.
dilanesp likes this.
HNLbasedFlyer is offline  
Old Feb 26, 2021, 6:08 pm
  #153  
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: USA
Programs: UA Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,166
Originally Posted by dilanesp
At some point, if you run a business and people are gaming your system, you have to make decisions that might make things a bit harder for non-gamers to stop the gaming.
How the heck are two people choosing the seats they want to occupy "gaming the system"? In most cases, they don't want to sit in the middle seat either. They paid for their tickets and they did so before your hypothetical late traveler. The fact one of them may be willing to move to the middle if someone shows up for the third seat is courtesy, not theft.
There is no obligation for people who are married, related, or just traveling together to sit next to each other. In point of fact, I see enough of my family that I usually don't feel a need to sit next to them on the plane.
Spiff, iluv2fly, LarryJ and 5 others like this.
ExplorerWannabe is offline  
Old Feb 26, 2021, 8:11 pm
  #154  
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: BOS
Programs: UA MM
Posts: 1,575
Originally Posted by justpetehere
Just had this happen to me after check in and my original seat was taken by the time I noticed. The Global Services rep was very apologetic but nothing they can do. Infuriating.
After check in? So you had BPs? Or hadn't noticed until after check in? Changing your seat after you check in seems quite cheeky to me!
MojaveFlyer is offline  
Old Feb 28, 2021, 9:59 am
  #155  
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Programs: united
Posts: 1,636
Originally Posted by ExplorerWannabe
How the heck are two people choosing the seats they want to occupy "gaming the system"? In most cases, they don't want to sit in the middle seat either. They paid for their tickets and they did so before your hypothetical late traveler. The fact one of them may be willing to move to the middle if someone shows up for the third seat is courtesy, not theft.
1. If they don't want to sit in the middle seat, the way they should manifest that is by staying in their assigned seats. Saying "I don't want to but I will give up this seat I glommed onto and prevented another paying customer from getting" isn't a real consumer preference. It's a rationalization. Especially since:

2. The airline OFFERS an option if you really want 2 people in a 3 seat aisle. You can pay for an EXTRASEAT. What the preference really is, is "I want to trick the airline into giving me something for free that I don't want to pay for". And the airline really doesn't want to reward THAT preference.

3. It's not a courtesy to some passenger that was kept out of that aisle or window seat because it was blocked on the seatmap. That passenger is having his or her seat taken from him or her.

Being "courteous" with something that doesn't belong to a person is not real "courtesy". It's something else.
dilanesp is offline  
Old Feb 28, 2021, 10:11 am
  #156  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,359
Originally Posted by dilanesp
1. If they don't want to sit in the middle seat, the way they should manifest that is by staying in their assigned seats. Saying "I don't want to but I will give up this seat I glommed onto and prevented another paying customer from getting" isn't a real consumer preference. It's a rationalization. Especially since:

2. The airline OFFERS an option if you really want 2 people in a 3 seat aisle. You can pay for an EXTRASEAT. What the preference really is, is "I want to trick the airline into giving me something for free that I don't want to pay for". And the airline really doesn't want to reward THAT preference.

3. It's not a courtesy to some passenger that was kept out of that aisle or window seat because it was blocked on the seatmap. That passenger is having his or her seat taken from him or her.

Being "courteous" with something that doesn't belong to a person is not real "courtesy". It's something else.
What if I want to sit at the window and my companion wants to sit at the aisle, regardless of whether the middle is occupied? How do you register that option? I don't see anything wrong with doing that, but I don't see how it is 'allowed' under the framework you're describing.
Spiff, SPN Lifer and Guate87 like this.
fumje is offline  
Old Feb 28, 2021, 11:15 am
  #157  
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: HNL
Programs: UA GS4MM, MR LT Plat, Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,447
Originally Posted by fumje
What if I want to sit at the window and my companion wants to sit at the aisle, regardless of whether the middle is occupied? How do you register that option? I don't see anything wrong with doing that, but I don't see how it is 'allowed' under the framework you're describing.
Book the aisle and aisle across the aisle. Or, book a window and EXTRASEAT and the aisle. You can always book the aisle and window, just be aware you may be moved.
HNLbasedFlyer is offline  
Old Feb 28, 2021, 8:07 pm
  #158  
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Silicon wasteland
Programs: UA 1KMM
Posts: 1,379
Originally Posted by fumje
What if I want to sit at the window and my companion wants to sit at the aisle, regardless of whether the middle is occupied? How do you register that option? I don't see anything wrong with doing that, but I don't see how it is 'allowed' under the framework you're describing.
Book a window and aisle on separate rows. Preferably on opposite sides of the plane.

Since you don't want to sit next to each other, you clearly don't want to talk to each other either, since doing so over an occupied middle seat would be rude.
ryman554 is offline  
Old Feb 28, 2021, 8:10 pm
  #159  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Honolulu Harbor
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 14,925
Originally Posted by fumje
What if I want to sit at the window and my companion wants to sit at the aisle, regardless of whether the middle is occupied? How do you register that option?....
Buy separate tickets?
IAH-OIL-TRASH is offline  
Old Feb 28, 2021, 9:52 pm
  #160  
Moderator: United Airlines
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,580
Has anyone actually heard or been told of an actual policy?
Or is this an unintended consequence of some other IT function? (perhaps one UA is no hurry to address)
Similiar to Random seat changes to UA itineraries after having an assigned seat [Consolidated]

Seems to be an awful vigorous debate on an unknown policy?
SPN Lifer likes this.
WineCountryUA is offline  
Old Feb 28, 2021, 10:04 pm
  #161  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Saipan, MP 96950 USA (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands = the CNMI)
Programs: UA Silver, Hilton Silver. Life: UA .57 MM, United & Admirals Clubs (spousal), Marriott Platinum
Posts: 14,823
Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
Seems to be an awful vigorous debate on an unknown policy?
Indeed. The title query has not been answered. First we should collect data points about W-A and A-A reassignments, perhaps even W-OA (opposite aisle).

Once we have evidence, it may be unnecessary to engage in these spirited debates, which seem to be based primarily on our own individual travel preferences (single or with companion).
SPN Lifer is online now  
Old Feb 28, 2021, 10:08 pm
  #162  
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Programs: Mileage Plus Global Services 2MM
Posts: 1,198
Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
Has anyone actually heard or been told of an actual policy?
Or is this an unintended consequence of some other IT function? (perhaps one UA is no hurry to address)
Similiar to Random seat changes to UA itineraries after having an assigned seat [Consolidated]

Seems to be an awful vigorous debate on an unknown policy?
We're bored and want to fly..... too much time on our hands
bluedemon211 is offline  
Old Mar 1, 2021, 7:18 am
  #163  
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 361
I've said it before, but when UA puts a dynamic / variable price tag on a seat, it should be fair game to select it and remain in it -- regardless of any other factors. There's a reason E+ middle seats are cheaper than Window and Aisles -- United knows they are less valuable. So if United (or any airline) is willing to take my additional money to choose a window or an aisle, they should have no issue with me getting what I paid for. Now if we are talking a free seat selection in E- then absolutely they should control it how they see fit. But once someone is paying a dollar amount for a specific seat, especially when all dollar amounts are different, you should get what you booked.

And just a case in point from my personal experience -- when I book aisle aisle or aisle window in E+, of course I'm hoping for some extra space. If someone (let's call it a standby) gets my middle seat, I always offer the courtesy for them to have the aisle or window. BUT -- my grandparents for example (mid 80s) book aisle window and they 100% of the time sit apart from each other even with someone between them. They don't want to talk. One wants easy bathroom access. One wants to look outside. Simply put, you should get what you pay for.
zeus2120 is offline  
Old Mar 1, 2021, 9:36 am
  #164  
Moderator: United Airlines
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,580
Originally Posted by zeus2120
.... Simply put, you should get what you pay for.
Has the subject issue of this thread occurred to you if you paid a seat fee?
WineCountryUA is offline  
Old Mar 1, 2021, 11:06 am
  #165  
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: EAU
Programs: UA 1K, CO Plat, NW Plat, Marriott Premiere Plat, SPG Plat, Priority Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 4,711
Originally Posted by dilanesp
2. The airline OFFERS an option if you really want 2 people in a 3 seat aisle.
Yes, they do. It's called picking an aisle seat for one person on the PNR and a window seat for the other person on the PNR.

United's policy is to allow people to pick the seats they want to sit in on a first-come, first-served basis. It is completely normal for a passenger to NOT want to sit in the middle seat and select an aisle or window seat until there is nothing other than middle seats left.

Nothing about this changes because two passengers happen to be on the same PNR. If the aisle and window seats are available when they select their seats, they're allowed to pick aisle and window seats, and the result for the person who books their ticket later when only middle seats are left is exactly the same - they were later in the first-come, first-served process.

Try looking at it from the end result:

Option 1: Pair of passengers chooses Aisle-Window. When all the aisle/window seats are full, everyone choosing their seat after that gets middle seats. If the middle seat ends up filled, pair switches seats so that someone who chose their seat AFTER them gets a aisle/window instead of a middle.

Option 2: Pair of passengers chooses Aisle-Middle. One other passenger who chooses their seats later gets a window seat who would have been in a middle seat, and everyone else after that gets a middle seat.

End result, either way, someone who is LOWER on the first-come/first-serve queue gets a non-middle seat.

And if you STILL want to insist this isn't fair to single travelers, single travelers can do the exact same thing: When choosing your seat, choose an aisle/window in a row where the other aisle/window is already occupied, and you can play the same "hope no one sits in this middle seat" lottery everyone else is.

Or, you can pick an empty row, and hope a couple doesn't grab the other two seats in the row.

Or, if the flight is really empty, you can take a middle seat and hope you get the whole row to yourself!

And if you *STILL* feel somehow wronged by this, ask yourself: When you are choosing seats, if there is an empty row, and there are rows with only one seat available, do you choose a seat in the row with only one seat available, just in case a group of 3 booking after you wants to sit together? Of course you don't. You're picking the best seat for you.

Regardless, passengers can choose any available seat. There is no rule that bans them from aisle or window seats because their ticket is on a multi-ticket PNR.
raehl311 is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.