ordogg

+1 to the FA for enforcing the rules!

Superguy

I've seen FA's sell buy ups to E+ on board.

That said, if I had an elite card with me and producible, and was seated in E- for whatever reason and they wouldn't let me move up to E+, I'd be pissed.

djk7

If I had the requisite elite card and an E- BP, I would have checked with the GA on E+ availability before boarding started and not waited to sort it out with the FA on board.

Shareholder

E+ is a commercial product like F so why upgrade other STAR elites? That's one of the benefits of being an elite in the UA/CO program. FA was doing her job. Would OP demand to be seated in F if there was an open seat?

kevinsac

I know flights seldomly go out with an empty seat in F .... but if so, I'm sure the FA would turn down someone's request to move forward.
Nope.....you should have complimented her on properly enforcing the rules. And it probably got more people thinking "Next time, I'll buy up."If you fly enough to know the benefits of an elite card -- and you paid for those benefits -- you'd be smart enough to ask before boarding if E+ was available.

southtahoe

I also do not see a reason to complain here.

If a E+ seat was desired by the OP, it could have been paid for at booking or at check in. While it is not unreasonable for a GA to advise everyone that E+ can be purchased at the gate, I dont think that doing such is currently standard practice. If notification of gate E+ purchase is the complaint, then that is a different issue.

It probably was frustrating looking at wide open seating while uncomfortably packed in E-. I'd be mad at myself though, not the FA.

The FA should get 10GTEMs for every abrasive comment that was made.

rjque

I don't see anything in your OP about the FA's attitude. I do see a complaint about United's policy of not allowing unpaid upgrades to E+. Is the FA really the issue? If so, I don't know what you would complain about because it is not in your post.

DBCme

Correct! Who will draft a letter of compliment to UA?

If Y+ & Y- are @ 100%
and F & C are @ 25%
We would never think of pushing folks from "the back" up front (assuming upgrades have all cleared, no weight/balance issues).

E- v E+ is no different in my mind.

You get what you pay for.

UAPremierGuy

Add me to the camp supporting the FA. I've had this happen on flights before, and while awkward, I very much appreciate protection of my benefits.

worldtrav

Since when do FA's make announcements at the gate? Also, they don't look at seat maps, that's a gate agents job.

Weatherboy

Ditto. Glad to see the FA protecting the seats.

epiding

let's focus on the key real complaints:

1) a UA Premier with a card wasn't allowed to move up (assuming his card matched his BP) ... very poor UA service on that.

2) the FA didn't give people the chance to buy-up (presumably)... very bad.

that said, although E+ enforcement is important.... its rarely as VISIBLE the stark division of class between haves and have-nots on a crowded plane with full E- and empty E+. It does somewhat engender bitterness (the same way Occupy Wall Street are enbittered by the stark income inequality between Wall Street and Main Street).

Finally, all those people in E- are probably thinking - even though E+ segregation is legal, had they chosen to fly US Air or Delta or Southwest instead that day, and they wouldn't likely be in the cramped sardine situation in the overcrowded E- cabin. Again, it engenders anti-UA bitterness, and makes them want to fly another airline where there would be lower seating density with a similar 1/2 plane full (but 100% E- full) situation.

GoAmtrak

Just as a data point, anytime I've been on the CR7 where the seat map showed as full in E- and empty in E+, that has generally meant there were several non-status pax "confirmed awaiting seats" and assigned E+ seats at check-in or at the gate. I wonder how common such flights are as the OP described: Few or no elites and just enough pax to fill up E-. I have to believe that kind of situation is rare.

In any case, I agree 100% with the prevailing sentiments here: The FA was right to protect E+, but wrong to cop a 'tude about it. Too bad UX FAs aren't empowered to do upsells.

Mike Jacoubowsky

Typo on my part, meant GA.

LarkSFO

I was going to start a new thread on this, but I think it fits in well here...

On Thursday, the 4:00 flight SFO - SAN, I had a new experience on UA.

Like the OP's flight, my A320 was full in E-, but there were quite a few empty seats in E+.

Just as boarding completed, the FA came on the PA and announced that the front end of the economy cabin was reserved for people who had paid to sit there. OK, I've heard that before. Here is the new part: She then proceeded to say that the empty E+ seats were available for sale, and that they had the credit card machines on board and could process a transaction on the spot if somebody would like to move forward.

I am not sure if she was bluffing on this (to communicate to people the fact that it cost money to sit in E+), or if she seriously would have processed an upgrade there on the spot.

Interestingly, she did not announce the cost to move to E+... (which makes me think it might have been a bluff.) Also, nobody took her up on the offer... My wife and I had an aisle and a middle seat with the window seat empty. As soon as the FA made this announcement, I slid over to the window seat so nobody would try and move there.

Anyway, if you have ever seen an on board paid and processed upgrade to E+, let us know.

(Rant on: Thanks to UA's idiotic policy about not allowing upgrades on award tickets, my wife and I were doomed to E+ on a flight that is one of the easy UDU's out there... As we watched, the GA came back to get not 1, not 2, but 3 people to invite them to enjoy the trip in F. The horror. I am sure I am much more elite than they are...)