Nope, it is still considered an upgrade, so all EQM/EQS would be based on your originally paid class of service, rather than the new, upgraded class of service.

It's just a way for people to confirm an E+ seat ahead of time or, hopefully, be the only way to get into E+ when a flight has empty E+ seats at time of departure.

We know UA is not going to leave an E+ seat-block in place if it will deny a revenue customer a seat. But it would be nice if UA stopped letting anyone move up to blocked E+ seats just for the heck of it.


Most of us did this, as well. But it now - hopefully - looks like UA is moving to no longer do this when they do not need to fill the blocked seat with a revenue passenger.


These types of paid upgrades are booked in NF/NC class, just like mileage or certifcate upgrades, and therefore earn no additional Class-of-Service EQM/EQS/RDM bonuses.

I couldn't disagree more. Sure, it's nice -- whether you're an elite or not -- to have an empty seat next to you. But having the seat next to you occupied is hardly the end of the world unless you are in the middle, which is highly improbable if you are a savvy flyer, and especially if you are an elite. The harship of having an adjacent seatmate pales in comparison to that suffered by a passenger who is legroom deprived. Remember the Golden Rule. I think it is enough of a benefit that elites are uniquely given the opportunity to pre-reserve E+ seats. At the airport on the day of the flight, UA should be more charitable in allowing less frequent travelers to also have a little more legroom free of charge, and we elites should be more sympathetic to their plight.

[Of course, I may be jaded because holding elite status on UA for me is the exception rather than the rule, but I'm comfortable with accepting a little less elbow room if it helps alleviate someone else's knee misery.]

While it is no fun having one's knees in the seat in front of them, it is also no fun having to cross your arms, either. Being broad-shouldered, and a polite person, that's what I have to do when the row is full. Makes eating really amusing.

Since I am always in a bulkhead or Exit Row and GAs fill front to back so there will be rows with empty middles even when mine isn't and most folks take the Exit Row, even if they have to sit in the middle, I am almost always in a full row, so I can count on one hand the number of times I have had an empty seat next to me. But it sure makes a difference in terms of comfort (especially since I usually try and lean out into the aisle a bit to give the middle person some extra shoulder room, which results in me getting tagged by everyone and everything passing by ).