BoeingBoy

It's almost like they didn't want to put the Choice seats behind all the Preferred seats for fear of not selling as many Choice seats to non-elites so mixed them together. I also like how the non-reclining seats in front of the exit row on the 737's are "Preferred".

Jim

757guy

Wow! That's really generous for US to let preferreds book rows 11 and 12. I think I'll book 11B for the heck of it, just to say I'm in a newly minted preferred seat!

IADCAflyer

not to mention that row 7 on West 733s (aka preferred seats) have no window.

tacommuter

I can recall this having been discussed before, but couldn't find an answer with a quick forum search: what is the email address to reach the office of Fernand Fernandez?

I suddenly feel an urge to have a little chat with him...

tacommuter

Thanks, ITRADE. Do you have an international 767 for us?

tommyleo

From the FAQ's page:

Q: Why are you doing this?

A: We want to give you (Preferred members) more access to the best seats in Coach when you book.


MORE access??? This is an outright lie, no?

757guy

Perhaps we should all join in on a conference call with HQ.

I believe this is the last straw for me, unless something is changed. I know that I'm a lowly Gold Preferred, but I have to draw the line somewhere. Especially seeing the lack of "preferred" seats on the 737s on which I frequent out of ORF, I think I'm headed elsewhere.

IADCAflyer

http://img12.imageshack.us/i/762m.png/

the 762 is probably the least annoying out of the bunch, but they took away preferred access to 10AB, 11AB, 13AB, and 14B. Those were all preferred seats prior to ChoiceSeatGate.

MikeLaw

I don't have a problem with them adding seats that were formerly ordinary seats to a new "Choice" program, but taking away preferred seats and making them choice is clearly bogus. Even though this almost never affects me, I'm with the camp that is annoyed by this change.

USPhilly

+1. This is rediculous and I'll join others here in sending an email though I'm sure it won't do much good. IMO this is worse than when they took away the 500 mile minimum.

DCAorBust

I agree. I think they've realized that people aren't fooled twice by the "choiceness" of the seats they were offered previously. Obviously the Choice Seats program was failing to hit whatever revenue targets they set for it or they would not have messed with it. I'm not too upset about "losing" a preferred seat--recall that they increased the number of "preferred" seats when they instituted choice seats, and so I think we're still close to the same number of preferred seats as we've always had--and I can't remember not being able to get one--maybe not the one I wanted, and maybe not one with an empty next to it for a companion, but this move doesn't really change those circumstances much.

They've done two things here: (a) limited purchase to the 24 hrs before departure, and (b) selected very far forward seats that can be obtained by paying only. Both of these items serve to make these seats more "choice" than they were previously, and therefore increase the likelihood that someone will actually pay for them. Under the prior model, these seats would be long gone by the time check-in rolled around, snapped up by preferreds. Plus, for most fliers, at three weeks prior to departure, there's little difference between an aisle seat at the front, and an aisle seat 6 rows behind it. It seems obvious that these moves increase the prospect of revenue because they create a hostage situation for last minute fliers who have the cash: CLT to LAX in a middle seat in row 18? or $X for the aisle in row 4. No-brainer for just about anyone traveling on the company's dime, and many leisure travelers as well.

There's one potential side benefit to preferreds, but I doubt US will have the wherewithal to make it happen in a systematic or fair (much less free) way, and that is that if these seats are held open until check-in, then it gives an elite the chance to snag one under various circumstances: change in gauge causing an F to Y downgrade, misconnect, etc. If agents could override the fee for preferreds in those circumstances, I don't think there would be much complaining.

Nonetheless, even with the fee, considering how often a preferred member is relegated to 22E for whatever reason, the increased chance of having 5D available at the last minute is a bit of a plus, and I'd pay to sit there (and complain later about the event that caused me to have to shell out for a seat). I know, I know, preferreds shouldn't have to pay, but if that were the case then we'd be right back where we started and 5D would have been snapped up by a Chairman's companion who moved up from 6C yesterday to be aisle-apart from his colleague, and you'd be sitting in 22B thinking about that 1C BP you were holding for the flt that cxld--in short, the fact that they're charging for these seats increases the likelihood that they'll be available, and that's a plus in my view.

MikeLaw

So when I did OLCI for my flights today I could not select Row 1. It didn't show up as choice or preferred, just full. Given that the flight is nearly empty, I can't imagine they are actually taken. These are last minute award tix but I don't think that should make any difference.

kudzu

That's a view in line with mine. Tempe is looking for another revenue slice, and, oh, if it helps the last-min biz traveler, so much the better, hah!

Perhaps it's all in response to complaints by those who book late, pay much, and end up with lousy seats. These days, I see more and more holdback of FC seats til 48/24 hours before departure. This latest move would also probably result in more "good" Economy seats left for those who book late and miss the upgrade, and if lucky, the middle seat would be empty too.

As always, it comes down to the Q, "How does this affect me as a Preferred?". Not much, really, as my mainline upgrade percentage is still excellent...and on USX I don't care where I sit for the short duration.

All that said, I'm with those who have raised eyebrows at the spin that came with the news - something got taken away, just say so and tell me why, and don't try to gloss over it

IADCAflyer

I'm still trying gauge the benefit to Preferreds. I can't see any.

Take a look at the 757. Other than the exit row seats, Rows 4-9 were basically all preferred seats. Now, none of them are . The preferred seats are now Rows 11 and 12 which is BEHIND one row of non-preferred, non-choice seats.

Oh - I now also see that Rows 11 and 12 are the ones without windows.... Nice. Very nice.

Where is the logic there?????

757guy

There is none. It was gone a long time ago. But, then again maybe there's some new "enhancement" to those rows of seats that makes them better.