stanfordhokie

It is the same in that in both examples it is a stupid practice by UA of not giving these pax a seat in E+.

stanfordhokie

Not necessarily all E+ seats.

mahasamatman

Same result maybe, but different reason.

stanfordhokie

Then explain why the reasons are different.

mahasamatman

One person paid for Business of First Class, and it wasn't available - so you give them the closest approximation (E+).

The OP paid for Coach and got Coach. He specifically declined paying for E+, so he didn't get it. There are effectively two full-fare prices - one for E- and one for E+. The OP elected the E- option.

I'm not trying to justify UA's position on this, just pointing out that the two situations are only peripherally related.

crarmstrong

At the office this morning, I checked my UAL receipt. The company paid $901 for that R/T ticket. I guess that is not enough to get a seat assignment on check-in.

bmvaughn

If you had purchased more than a week before the flight, you likely could have saved enough to purchase Economy Plus Access ($349) and then selected a seat on check-in. That's all it comes down to... you purchased your fare quite late.

John Thacker

Not so long as E+ doesn't come "free" with a full fare ticket.

The reason this occurs on UA but not other airlines is indeed E+. On some flights, the following happens:

1) E- fills up.
2) E+ is not full.
3) United continues selling tickets in Y to people who don't automatically qualify for E+, as the plane isn't full.
4) United attempts to upsell everyone in E- to E+ at every opportunity, including check-in.
5) At the last possible moment, at the gate, the GA moves people into E+ without them paying for it, generally people without seat assignments.

At the end, in step 5), you did most likely have an advantage in getting into E+ because of your full fare ticket.

Your complaint seems to be an (understandable) one that E+ does not come with a full-fare ticket, and that people could have paid less for a discount ticket, paid for E+, and the total come out to less than your full-fare ticket. Whereas the upgrade for business class at the gate prices seem to be somewhat based on the original fare paid or fare bucket, upgrading from E- to E+ seems to be fixed regardless of original fare.

However, people who have status (or E+ access) could have bought S tickets in advance and gotten E+ while paying less than you as well. UA is not going to kick people out of their assigned seat that they bought two or three weeks in advance since you bought a full fare ticket a week in advance.

Your full fare ticket comes with certain rights, including being refundable and allowing changes. (Also mileage bonuses, which may not matter otherwise.) It does not come with E+. Since it does not, if E- is full but E+ is not, you will not get an assignment until UA has taken every opportunity to get someone to pay for E+.

RockoHorse

Maybe the OP can correct me, but after reading the original post and all the following posts it seems to me that the issue changed from getting a seat assignment (any seat assignment) to whether the OP deserves to be seated in E+

I don't know the standard procedure for people flying without assigned seats, but it would probably freak me out a bit if I had paid full fare and didn't have a guaranteed seat on a flight...am I missing something?

John Thacker

Right, upset that he couldn't get E+ on United, the full fare ticket buyer is going to go to another US airline-- that also doesn't have E+.

The full fare spender is getting something else for his price. The S ticket buyer probably had to reserve longer in advance. The S ticket buyer cannot change the flight without a hefty change fee. The S ticket buyer cannot get a refund, depending on vouchers instead. The S ticket buyer does not get bonus EQMs. The two ticket types are not directly comparable-- it's not just a case of paying $150 and $800 for the same thing; it's paying $150 and $800 for the same type of seat but different conditions outside the seat.

There are a host of things built into the different fare bases. It happens that full fare does not include automatic E+ (though preference if it comes time at the gate to allocate empty E+ seats when E- is full). It wouldn't bother me at all if full fare did include automatic E+; I actually agree with you that it seems like at least a reasonable idea. But then it similarly also would seem reasonable if full fare included complementary upgrades for GMs and non-members as well (but with a 24 hour limit), and UA doesn't do that either.

John Thacker

What you're missing is that the reason OP didn't have a seat assignment because E- was full but E+ was not, a situation that arises not infrequently. In such cases, UAL will continue to sell economy tickets but will not assign seats in E+ to people whose tickets do not qualify, instead waiting to see if it can upsell anyone in E- to E+ first at check-in. Only at the gate, after all opportunities to upsell E+ have been exhausted, will seats be assigned.

So long as UAL has E+, this will happen. The OP was particularly upset that it happened on a full fare ticket; the only way it could have been avoided in this situation is if E+ came with a full fare ticket, or if full fare ticket holders were seated in E+ after E- became full without having to pay a step-up cost.

RockoHorse

thanks for answering my question!

rkaradi

Sadly you are correct when you have no status w/ UA and the ticket IS last minute and there are no more seats in E-. Frankly as a fullfare passanger I understand your gripe, but I imagine on any carrier this would happen if there were no seats to assign. It thinks it's sad that UA would not give a non-status pax an E+ seat on full far tix, but I guess that's just one of the perks of having status.

jan_az

Yesterday my DH went to check in for his US flight PHX-ATL. He has no status other than *Gold on US ( Is a UA 1K). The computer offered the option of seat assignment at the gate or pay $15 for a "preferred seat". He chose to pay $15 to avoid the possiblity of a middle seat ( there is no e+ as we all know on US). This was also a fully refundable ticket, but it was also the only nonstop at a time that worked for us. ALL airlines ( well except may WN) , are nickle and diming us - thats the way it is now.

gre

I don't think this is quite fair; the OP objected to having to wait until he got to the gate for a seat assignment when an E+ seat could have been assigned at check in.

I think it's an excellent policy.

Full fare tickets cost so much because thay are generally either bought late or because the purchaser wants to retain full refundability. Additional perks, that no other airlines offer (E+), are not part of the deal.

By your strategy UA should save some E+ seats for last minute high fare purchasers which could result in status pax being told that E+ is full.

And as posted above, why not give the full fare pax the other benis of status, e.g., premium security, group 1 boarding, extra baggage allowance... Where would this end?