jjmoore

I have wide shoulders, and that makes it pretty tough. I have flown TPAC a couple times in these seats and they are pretty rough with seatmates on either side. The window seat is pretty cramped now compared to what it used to be. That 1" makes a difference in my world.

MSPeconomist

This. Much of the discomfort is borne by seatmates rather than the "big" person.

IMissThe747

3-4-3 is terrible! Yeah, it's only an inch, and for my hips that doesn't matter much. But my shoulders extend beyond the width of the seat on 3-4-3, whereas 3-3-3 is perfectly fine.

Of course 3-4-3 uncomfortable for me, but I feel even worse for whoever sits next to me. At 6'0" and 200 pounds, I'm bigger than average, but I'm no giant. It's crazy to me that 3-4-3 on a 777 is even a thing.

hyho61

Delta C+ is truly a superior product when compared to their E- class, in addition to more leg room, they have free drinks and better snack selection. Now if UA is going that route, then I guess E+ would be worthwhile to pay extra. Also my intuition is that Golds may have to wait to get E+, similar to Silver, while now it is instantly available, they could go to 3 to 4 days before the day of the departure. The loss of E+ to Golds (assuming no changes to Plat or 1k) would be huge on long haul international flights.

btonkid12345

Just want to point out to OP that C+ upgrades on DL are not last seat availability.

It functionally is that most of the time but sometimes there’s a few empty seats in C+ but no upgrade inventory so it doesn’t process. Rare but does happen sometimes.

narvik

This.

First they screw us in every possible way, and when the economy tanks again, we'll all be paying to bail them out....again!

wpcoe

It may be "only an inch", but add your inch to the adjacent passenger's inch and you have two inches less. I am also a wide person, and two extra inches less between my shoulders and my neighbors' makes a *big* difference.

IMissThe747

I was utterly confused the first time I walked into the E+ cabin on a UA 777-300ER. It was 2017 before the 744 was retired. My first thought was 'I thought this flight was a 777, they must have swapped in a 747-400.' Then I looked around and realized it was indeed a 777, and it was indeed 3-4-3. I settled into my seat and spent the next 13 hours completely incredulous that 3-4-3 in a 777 was even possible.

At 6'0" 200 lbs I'm bigger than the average American male but not by too much. The inch does indeed make a big difference.

dilanesp

To me, that's like saying that if you very tall, standard economy class legroom isn't going to work for you.

It's true-there are outliers in the population who are going to have trouble in the tightest economy class seats. But I don't think 10 across 777's are particularly bad for average sized bodies. I barely noticed the difference.

zombietooth

There's no putting lipstick on that pig. Unless you are small, 10 across is intolerable. I get cramping in my ribcage because I have to pull my arms in so tight.
Yeah, it's the cheapskate American Public's fault, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a horrible product.

Oh, and 31" pitch won't work for me at only 6' 2".

dilanesp

I am tall but not fat. 31 inch pitch is tight, so I love Y+.

But I don't claim that airlines are terrible for selling seats with 31 inch pitch. For average sized people that's fine. Many people can afford to fly because of 31 inch pitch.

The same analysis applies to overweight folks. A normal weight person fits just fine in 10 across, which is why numerous airlines have switched. Overweight folks should pay more and fly PE with its wider seats, or avoid 777's. But it's unfair to normal weight people to force them to pay higher airfares if they are fine with 10 across seats.

narvik

Have the airfares dropped in price since UA started 10-accross in Y?

dilanesp

That's not how things work. 10 across 777's are one of a number of cost cutting measures imposed by a number of airlines (not just United). Without such measures, a number of things could happen:

1. Average fares increase.
2. Some service is cut.
3. Some airlines may fail, leading to 1 and 2.

Looking for a 1 to 1 relationship between a particular cost cut and a particular fare cut is a cop-out intended to declare any airline cost cutting out of bounds.

Airlines keep fares low by keeping costs low, and 10 across 777's is one way to do that. As I said, the average person fits fine in a 17 inch seat with 31 inch pitch- if they didn't, United would be losing business on routes using this plane. It is highly unfair for a percentage of the population who needs a bigger seat to force airlines to raise costs (which one way or the other will be passed on to all consumers) when airlines already offer bigger seat products that people can buy up to, including "EXTRASEAT", Y+, PP, and J/F.

There's nothing wrong with the 10 across 777. It's fine for most travelers.

zombietooth

I imagine that you just love the slimline seats.

JimInOhio

The American male of 20 years or greater averages just over 5' 9" in height and 198 lbs in weight. I'm taller and lighter than those averages and the 10-across configuration borders on unacceptable (as many have opined on this message board).

More to the point... people talk about "normal" as if it's synonymous with "average". It's not. In fact, "normal" often implies everything that fits into the average plus and minus one standard deviation. So normal goes beyond 5'9"+ and 198 lbs.