No E+, Plenty of E-
 

Since UA started pushing E+ purchases like mad, and even offering free drinks in E+, the last few flights I have booked have been full in E+, and there have only been seats in E-.

I have to pay for my own flights for work, and can change locations on a weeks notice, so I don't want to be stuck with change fees, so I generally book 2-3 weeks out. I suspect these are filled by people who book 4-6 months out for personal travel. Suddenly $19 for more leg room and a free drink sounds pretty appealing to them.

In the past, there have always been plenty of E+ seats on my flights when I booked, and generally E- showed as full. Now its the polar opposite.

I mean, I guess its good for UA that they are making a few more dollars, but they are also really alienating me, who now has to fly in E- 3 weeks in a row, and they are making me start to look elsewhere.

Anyone else experiencing this?

It is Aug and the peak vacation travel month -- all my flight sin past few years have been packed. At BOS today, a Sunday, and every UA flight is over sold.

Come the end of the month and expect the situation to dramatically change.

It's very route-dependent. I still see many flights with E- full and E+ empty.

I have noticed that E+ seats would open up as one gets into the various UDU and SWU upgrade windows for domestic and international flights, respctively. So, keep checking.

Well, seeing as noone else offers Economy Plus, I'm not sure how looking elsewhere will solve your issue.

I know intensive Hubs and Routes sometimes see 1k's and GS not getting a UDU but it really stinks that you have failed to upgrade on this particular route so many times. I wonder what route you are talking about?

Virgin America does offer a version of E+. A limited route network might not help the OP, but it is out there.

Are you saying that United is alienating you because they don't hold E+ seats for you to upgrade into? :confused: I don't think I am following your complaint. The whole purpose of United is to sell seats, not give away their more expensive seats.

If you want E+ for sure, couldn't you purchase the seat just like everyone else is doing? I'm just not following the "alienating you " portion of your post.

AD

The OP is a 1K. He's merely bemoaning the fact that he can't purchase his tickets as far in advance as others, and can lose out on E+ because of that.

No. I believe that the OP is saying that s/he has to buy their tickets at the last minute. The OP is entitled to E+ free of charge as a 1K, but is finding that a lot of people are paying the upgrade fee and E+ is very crowded. So, the OP is in a crowded E+ section with a potentially undesirable middle seat, while E- is virtually empty. I've never experienced this, but it can vary substantially by route.

So does B6, with a much broader network than VX, though still not as large as UA's.

This sort of confusion is what happens as a result of UA GAs and FAs referring to E+ seating as an "upgrade"--the misnomer causes other UA employees who aren't personally responsible for assigning seats to forget that Premier members and above are entitled to free E+ seating, as one of the benefits they earned with their status. If you're a Premier, E+ is not an upgrade.

So while the reasoning "if you want a better seat for sure, couldn't you purchase it?" applies to upgrades to F for elites, it's completely inapplicable to E+ seating for elites.

Regardless of route, as the UDU windows open, E+ seats will become available...it shouldn't be too hard to move into those seats...as a 1K, even if you're temporary stuck in E-, you should have a good chance at the UDU yourself.

Obviously every UA elite gets E+...I think aluminumdriver just didn't realize the OP was an elite.

Oh, got it. I still can't feel to bad that the seats are being purchased, that's a good thing for United and they can't leave them empty just so an elite flyer can move up when they fly. If it's a big deal, I guess the OP or anyone could move back to the "virtually empty" E- and just get a row to themselves, which would be just as good probably.

AD