Thought some might find this interesting. I had a flight recently from IAD to MIA on a 3-class 763. My itinerary (and--after the fact--UA's summary of my MP account) showed the ticket as K-class (in this case, a reduced price gov't ticket). Given this, I was assigned to E-. When I checked in at the gate though, my boarding pass showed the fare as Y (I have no idea why this happens but it wasn't the first time) so a few minutes before boarding, I decided to try my luck and ask for E+. Plane wasn't full, so this seemed to be no problem. The gate agent offered me an aisle first, but I asked if there were any windows. At first she said no, but then corrected herself and said "oh, wait a minute." Heard her ask the other agent something about blocked seats and two minutes later she handed me a new pass--seat 13A.

I didn't think too much about it till I boarded and took a right turn into the coach section, where the first seat was--wait a minute--row 15. Had to turn around and go the other way. Turns out rows 13 and 14 were marked E+, but in the back of the C section. It was basically a business-class seat, except no view of the video screens (since I had no seat back in front of me) and right next to the galley. Tons of leg room, and we got a full business class meal. Only thing missing was the wine.

Halfway through the flight a FA from F came back and asked me in a very irritated tone if I'd been assigned that seat. I said yes and she then demanded to see my boarding pass. She glanced at it, gave a little "hrumph," and walked off. That's when I figured out it must be a crew rest seat. All in all, it was a very strange flight (not that I'm complaining).

Has anyone else ever been assigned these rows (13-14) on a 763? Anyone have any idea what UA's official policy is for these passengers? The seats are clearly marked E+ on the seat maps, but if I hadn't gotten the business class meal I'd have had to sit there and watch everyone else in the C cabin eat, which wouldn't have been very nice. Coach had no meal at all. Anyway, I' not sure if I'd call this an upgrade or not, but it was definitely nice.

Yep, those are designated crew rest seats. Not sure whether they're used that way on domestic flights, though.

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"Would you convey my compliments to the purist who reads your proofs and tell him or her that I write in a sort of broken-down patois which is something like the way a Swiss waiter talks, and that when I split an
infinitive, d*** it, I split it so that it will stay split."
- Raymond Chandler, to the editor of the Atlantic Monthly, 1947

More Room Throughout Coach: the Website of Free Miles and Free Markets

Although I�m sure you were very happy with the seat assignment, I think the FAs behaviour was quite unreasonable, and i would have complained to the purser on the flight. If she had any suspicions about your right to sit there she should have looked at the passenger manifest. Even though she did not do this she should have apologized to you and explained why she has asked. After all you didn�t assign the seat, UA did.

John



[This message has been edited by SoFlyOn (edited 08-18-2002).]

Rows 13 and 14 on the internationally-configured 767-300 are indeed crew rest seats for international flights. They are sort of a hybrid between C and Y seats-- not as wide or as much pitch as the other C seats, but more pitch than Y seats, and with leg rests. (And there are video screens located in the armrests on those seats-- you should have asked the F/As how to access them.)

While I cannot condone an "irritated tone" or a rude "hrumph" from the F/As, they ARE only supposed to be used if there are no other Y seats available when customers check in. The reason it may have rubbed the F/As the wrong way if the CSRs allocated them improperly (which I assume to be the case since you mentioned the flight wasn't full) is because the C galley on this configuration is EXTREMELY cramped and difficult to work in for the level of service expected by management and by the customers, so it helps to be able to use those seats as an basically an extension of the C galley. Typically if those seats are not assigned to customers, during the meal service you will see the tray tables pulled out on all four of those seats and used as extra counter space.

Also even though they are technically Y seats domestically, the C service is provided "to maintain the integrity of the C cabin," (or some such wording that appears in the F/A manual) (i.e., a meal serice in this case as opposed to just beverages as served in Y) as they appear to be a part of the C cabin to the uninitiated.

Kind of an aside to your main point ... when my husband flies on government fares he's always been assigned E+. Even in years when he hasn't has status he's been told government fares make one eligible for E+. Just something you might want to ask about if you're assigned to regular Y in the future.

Yeah, the K fares are something new just this fiscal year. We've been told that if we make our reservations far enough in advance, the airline will sometimes provide a lower fare than the normal negotiated gov't price (hence, K rather than Y). This happens about 50% of the time for me. The tickets are still fully refundable, changeable, and all that stuff--just cheaper. The problem is, since they're coded as K the E+ seat maps won't open up for the reservations agents like they do with the normal Y code. I have no idea why the K's mysteriously change to Y-class when the boarding passes are printed out, but I usually just wait till this happens and then ask for a change to E+ (if there's still something available).

All my coach United boarding passes show Y class even if they are K, V or any of the other discounted fares. When I upgrade it shows F or C for Business on 3-class planes.

TWA used to show the same thing on the boarding pass, either Y or F no matter what the fare class paid.

As far a the E+ seating they do open those seats up at the airport, so a non full coach paying customer or a non Premier can get a E+ seat at checkin.

Y prints on the boarding pass if you are in Coach; it does not show the actual fare basis code.

BillJ

You guys are right. The boarding pass only shows 'Y', 'C' or 'F' depending on which cabin you'll be sitting in.

The actual fare basis/class is actually printed out on the bottom left of the boarding pass on the part which the gate agent takes.

Ohhhhhhhh.....that makes sense. I could never figure out why it changed like that. Thanks guys!

Can't anyone on any fare request E+ at the airport?

Yes. E+ is open to everyone on the day of departure regardless of fare paid or status.

Those seats are also occupied by meal trays (usually the cheese/dessert course as the remainder of the meal is served) since the C galley is notoriously small on the 767. Since dessert is often served on the same tray as the main course nowadays that problem may have been alleviated.

I flew LGA-IAD-LAX last month. Was then non-status and on a cheap RTW. I checked in at LGA, was given my preselected seat (non E+). Once I got to IAD (it was about a 2.5 hour wait) and the gate wasn't open yet. I found UA customer service and asked if anything was available closer to the front. Window? No. Aisle? No. Middle seat? Yes, 9B. Thanks to Seatguru I knew it was E+ and grabbed it. Marvelous flight. Had channel 9 too!

goodo

Some 767-200's have a similar set of 4 crew rest seats. I assume the rules about their use are the same as Bear96 describes for the 767-300? I have been reseated into these seats twice (both times without asking):
1. my business class seat wouldn't lock upright (kept reclining) and there were no other bus or first seats available (coach was full too even!), so they moved me to the crew rest before takeoff (actually while taxing slowly, but don't tell anyone).
2. again first was full and there was one empty seat next to me in business. At the last moment a passenger comes on and as he walks down the aisle you can just see people wincing. When he sits next to me he reeks to high heaven. A moment later (I hadn't done or said anything) the purser comes and squats down next to my aisle seat and starts whispering with me, suggesting I might be more 'comfortable' moving back to the crew rest area. I readily agree...and hastily move.

Both times the crew were ever polite and kind to me, even though I was in 'their' space. My general rule of thumb is to engage crew in conversation (beyond the basics) only when invited, but I've enjoyed every conversation I've ever had with crew.

-BP