Is United now actively trying to block party of two, window+aisle bookings?
#151
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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
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
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.
#153
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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.
#154
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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!
#155
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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.
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.
#156
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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.
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.
#157
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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.
#158
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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.
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.
#159
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#160
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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?
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?
#161
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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).
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).
#162
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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?
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?
#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.
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.
#164
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#165
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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.