doug_999

What's interesting, and looking back at my 6:30AM email is that United did indeed switch out a 319 for a 320 - so I'm guessing that's when the "seat sweep" occurred. So I went to row 20 (I don't recline - even in EC+) and then, we got upgraded with PP - 2B and 2E due to it being full. But wait for it... the AC went back to a 319 (still 12 seat FC) and I got another email that they had changed my seats due to AC change and was now in 2E! (formerly 2F). So I moved my son to 2F and now we are magically together. I'm not a fan of getting on first these days but I suspect we will cause I bet tomorrow there might be some mass confusion in the front cabin

Guate87

Today United cancelled three of our return flights to IAH because one inch of snow will shut Houston down.

I picked 21C and 21D on our fourth (and hopefully not cancelled) flight so that neither of us is put in a middle seat. We prefer aisle/window (A/C or D/F) but United seems to leave two aisles alone.

dilanesp

It's not crap customer service, because they are trying to protect the customer who ends up in a middle seat because folks are locking up aisles and windows and then giving away the airline's property- a preferential seat- on the plane.

MojaveFlyer

I'm not sure I understand this response. If I get window/aisle, and United sells the middle seat, that's fine, one of us will move and the middle person ends up with a better seat. If that middle goes empty (and United will certainly sell it if they can; I have not heard that they are blocking middles these days), why shouldn't I be one of the lucky ones to benefit? UA already allows me to book highly desirable seats (exit rows at booking time) and in part as a result I do not buy the cheapest fares - win/win it seems to me.

As for "giving away" a seat, I don't make the decision who gets it. If its filled, it's either someone with status who books ahead, or a last minute E- seating to the lucky person who gets put into a more desirable seat than they paid for.

As for the "customer service" I am absolutely fine with any stated rules - I can use my knowledge of the rules to decide which carrier to fly. Doing it in stealth mode takes away a benefit UA has given me (advance seat booking in exit rows, and E+ seating in general) in recognition of the million + BIS revenue miles I took on them. Small bits of preferential treatment - and they are getting fewer and fewer - keep me flying on UA even though I'd save money on many trips (and it is my money these days) on other carriers.

doug_999

But Delta doesn't sell the middle seat - so .....

and... if I can magically get a seat between me and my travel partner, that's great. If I can't (as in someone grabs the middle) as noted above, we just move over.

Short story - I get why United does it, but they shouldn't - at least when the airline they look up to doesn't even sell that seat!

dilanesp

You have to understand that in the hierarchy of customers, those who are depriving the airline of something it might be able to sell, or forcing a stranger into a middle seat, might not be viewed as "good customers".

​​​​​The airline is may be quite aware that some folks who regularly do this aren't going to be happy and may threaten to fly another airline. That may even be part of United's motivation. They may see these people as causing a problem they would like to solve.

​​

LarryJ

Has it ever been confirmed that the movement of these "split" seat assignments to adjacent seats is intentional?

dilanesp

It hasn't. But there are enough examples of it that it sure looks non-accidental. And it's a practice that an airline would want to stop, especially during a pandemic when more passengers might try it rather than purchasing an EXTRASEAT. So I think that's the logical explanation.

​​​​

iluv2fly

I don't think the "pandemic" has anything to do with this.

Boraxo

again, this makes no sense. I don't make the rules, UA does. Under its own rules, UA allows me to select seats when I book my trip, and to change them after I purchase my ticket. If I am elite then UA does not charge me a seat rez fee. So under the existing rules I am free to book all aisles for my entire family. Or all windows. Or all middles. Or whatever combination I want. There is nothing in the contract or MP rules that restricts my choices.

If UA does not want people to book aisle and window seats (leaving open middles) it is free to restrict that option through technology, or by charging additional fees, etc. But it needs to provide honest and transparent disclosure of this "rule" to its customers so that we can make informed decisions.
If this is the path that UA chooses, I may very well choose to book another airlines even it costs me more money, because seat location is a very important factor in my purchasing decision.

The sneaky underhanded seat changes, without any notice to the customer, are not honest or transparent, nor are they good business practice because they offend the airlines best customers. if - as you suggest - i'm not a "good customer" because I buy tickets on UA (and not WN) in part based on the promise that I can reserve E+ seats - then maybe UA should change its rules. I am not "forcing" a stranger into a middle seat. Pre-COVID I would often SDC my flights and take a middle seat if it was the only one remaining. It never in a million years occurred to me that some unknown fellow passenger "forced me into a middle seat". That is just the seat that when I purchased my ticket on that flight.

drowelf

If I had booked a Window/Aisle combination on a single PNR and one of us got moved to a middle, I'd be a little pissed. But we don't book that way ourselves. We generally go exit row aisle/aisle across or one ahead of the other, depending on the plane configuration. That way we can still converse a bit on the flight and never have to worry about this issue. If we went aisle/window and someone did end up in the middle, we would have to talk across them.

SPN Lifer

I wonder if the aisle-aisle combination offers some degree of reassignment "immunity", or if such arrangements are less frequently modified simply because they are less frequently selected. I suspect the latter.

In the absence of any known United Air Lines policy discouraging aisle-window and aisle-aisle seat selection by MileagePlus Premier members, it would seem most likely the reassignments are merely an incidental consequence of equipment changes and information technology (IT) algorithms designed to keep travel companions together.

MSPeconomist

IMO a lot depends on how the traveling companion(s) is entitled to the Y+/exit/preferred seat. If a fee is paid for the seat, then people should be able to sit where they please. Similarly, if everyone is an elite and is entitled to the special seat as a published elite benefit for the individual's status tier, no problem: pick seats where you please. However, if one person has status and is bringing others into the special seats for free, then the people should be willing to sit together. In fact, this should be written into policy and enforced by the computer. My bottom line is that 7A & 7C are fine if both have paid for the seats (although social distancing would suggest that it would be better if they were seated together rather than having a random stranger sitting in the middle seat). Similarly, if both 7A and 7C hold their own 1K status, for instance, again no problem (with the same COVID-19 comment). However, if one person holds elite status and the companion has no status, then it's 7A/7B or 7B/7C, not 7A/7C or 7C/7D, etc.

The purpose of UA's special seating for companions feature is to please the elite by enabling him/her to sit together with friends and family. Chances are that when the nonstatus companion takes one of the best seats, it's at the expense of another elite who later purchases a more expensive ticket on the same flight.

WineCountryUA

This seemed to be a pmUA policy many years ago, especially if guesting an off PNR companion into E+. The wording at that time seemed to suggest an adjacent seat. That wording was dropped long ago.

Boraxo

I don't disagree, but the data points suggest that the reseating does not always correspond to an equipment swap. And the best course would be to put passengers back in the same type of seat they chose initially, if similar seats are available. Unfortunately, that is rarely the case, so people with carefully laid plans often get shoved into undesirable seats due to last minute equipment swaps. But that's not the fact pattern here.

Why would you assume the later passenger is an elite and/or flying on an expensive ticket? These days there are very few business customers, and some of the <14 day fares are not so high. Also fare is irrelevant to SDC - a Silver member could be flying on a cheapo fare and decide to take the earlier flight. Should he bump a 1k companion from an aisle or window seat?

This seems more like a typical UA IT mishap, that is not at the top of the priority list to fix.