Last week I was on 4 sepereate A319 Flights--all on same exit row.(one with no seat infront of you) All four flights I had someone sitting next to me in the middle seat while many of E+ middle seats were not occupied. What's up with that??? I know UA is tightening up E+ access to non-premier members but how about exit row access? Anyone else noticed similar situations?

I would guess that people would rather an exit row middle than an E+ middle. Quite likely the person in the middle was an elite. If you prefer an open middle, you should avoid exit rows & bulkheads, as they fill up their middles first, usually.

Actually it is very unlikely the person in the middle was an elite. 9 out of 10 times when I was on 757 exit row 16A or F, when I checked at the easy check-in booths at the airport, the seat next to me was empty. However on an half full flight, with plenty of E+ aisle and windows left, someone sit next to me. I usually bring up a general conversation with my seatmate, none of them have status, usually they just said they ask for exit row when they check-in.

Another guess is not sure if anyone watch any news on TV or magazines articles lately, many reporters had bought up some news segment about "In order to surive in economy without any airline status, ask for exit seats when you checkin"

The exit row strategy has been around for a long time.. much before the media caught on. I usually sit in E+ because of the seat blocking.. and exit rows tend to fill up quicker anyway. Oh, and the door can let in a lot of cold air.

I have same experience as ORDnHKG, most of time when I am exit row and there's always somebody with no status in the middle seat. Once the guy told me that he managed to change his seat at gate.

I do enjoy the exit row, but lately the middle has always been non elite and almost always full. I could also say similar things about the outboard rows of the domestic 777 flights I have been on. When I check in the seat is always blocked, but never the less the seat is filled upon boarding. It was happening so consistently that i started to walk around the cabin to look at the passenger loads. More often than not not, there are plenty of seats, even aisle in E-. The only thing that has been working better is to take the window seat, hoping the seat block works. This seems to be working better because there are more aisle seat than windows, ymmv. I will be curious to see if the tighter control of the E+ product helps with the last minute gate and check-in seat change requests.

Before I had any status I always asked for exit row seats. At 6'-4"+, that was pretty much the only way I survived the first 25k miles to qualify for E+. Why is anyone surprised when others do the same. It is not as if the exit row seats are reserved for elites, unless the exit row in question is in E+.

JR

I believe most of UA planes(319/320/757/737 and more) exit rows are E+

You're right. When I posted that, I was thinking about my experience reaching 2P the first time. Most miles were in exit rows on 747s.

JR

It's especially bad to book an exit row on a CRJ: they put all the huge people in these rows. I just opt for front-of-plane.

The perk of reserving exit row seating for 1P's isn't so grand after all, I guess?!

Note that some of the E+ exit-row aisle seats do not recline. It could be a back killer.

Mr. Chicken used to offer exit rows on the day of flight (but then direct you to an agent "to verify FAA exit row requirements"). He doesn't do so any longer; I can verify that as I had to get the RCC agent to put my wife in the exit row after she wasn't able to do so at check-in.

Before I had status, the agents of most airlines would put me in the exit rows at check-in, often without me requesting them, when they saw my height (6'4"). Although exit rows are often E+ and are also supposed to be reserved for 1P up until the day of flight, on the day GAs are usually pretty willing to put anyone who asks there.

I've always wondered why Y seats recline at all, as they go back maybe 2-3 inches at most in the majority of cases. Not any real additional comfort to the pax, but the chance to crush the knees of the pax behind you.

Its been my experience that on my regular phx-ord & ord-phx flights that at ~75% of the time the person sitting next to me is an NRSA sitting in one of the row 11 middle seats.... even when there are entire rows in E+ open.

I noticed this when I flew US in May. I was able to grab exit rows during online check-in ORD->PIT->PHL. On the first leg, the entire exit row, except me was NRSA. On the 2nd leg, everyone but the aisle on my side, and I were NRSA.