United: Move To An Empty Row For Only $156
Reader Matt is annoyed with United Airlines. On a flight from Minneapolis to Denver the passengers were crammed into coach — but there were entire unsold rows in the "$39 extra" section.
Matt says:
United Airlines booked coach passengers in full rows (six across). Unless passengers paid an extra $39 a leg (or $156 for a round trip with one stop,) they weren't allowed to move into the multiple empty rows on the airplane.
Forcing people to sit six across, unlike removing pillows, saves the airlines no money. It simply makes them uncomfortable. I'd assume that it's United's marketing department trying to sell more seat upgrades.
In many respects, I was the airline's worst customer: I had no loyalty to any airline, simply choosing the cheapest route from point "a" to point "b." Now, however, it's going to be the cheapest carrier other than United.
As business travel weakens because of the recession, situations like this are probably becoming more common. We wonder if United will have to rethink its policy as it becomes more difficult to sell expensive "extra leg room" type seats.
(Photo:Zonaphoto)
Post a comment
Comments:
I feel so bad for the flight attendants that have to enforce these rules. It really amazes me that they can still recruit people to do that job.
I have traveled very little by plane, and it's been a few years - but as soon as we left the gate & in the air, I can remember the flight attendants not carrying if you moved around a little if there were empty seats.
I can see the airline wanted to make a little more money by selling those, but once it is known that no one will be using it, I don't see why the flight attendants would care.
You pay for your assigned seat. Sit down and shut up.
How is this even a legitimate complaint? You paid for a regular seat in coach. When you purchase the seat, you're given the opportunity to upgrade to "Coach Plus", or whatever they call it. You chose to decline that opportunity. Now that you've gotten on the plane, you want to move to the upgraded seat for free, just because you're "crammed" into the seat you knowingly and willingly paid for? Give me a break.
Further, it does indeed cost the airlines money to allow you to move to those seats w/o paying, albeit indirectly. If they allowed people to move just because they were open, no one would ever purchase the upgrade, they would just wait until they got on and move for free.
I guess airlines have become real jerks since the 70's.
My dad was 20 in 1978 and flying to New York from Denver while on leave from the Army to see his parents. He ended up on a TWA overnight flight that was pretty much empty. Because he was the only one in coach the flight attendants invited him up to first class for free. He sat in the first row right near the cockpit with the 2 other people on the flight and the flight attendants. He tells this story every now and then because he met some really nice people while on that flight.
Oh for the good old days when businesses did the reasonable thing.
Wow. Why do some airlines seem to invent reasons to make more people avoid flying with them? Do they WANT to go out of business?
I might just have to get 'lost' on my way back from the bathroom.
"It's a long way back to my seat, so I'm just taking a rest here... with my book and iPod..."
I was on a United flight recently and the premium exit row seats didn't sell. They left them empty. I'm not sure, but I thought that that violates FAA rules - I thought I heard somewhere that they have to have people in the exit rows to be able to quickly pull the doors off.
United and American - don't fly them. They pioneer every new form of screwing. Rarely are their prices cheapest anyway.
@Coach Cal Is My Dream Weaver: A lot of people sign up for jobs like that just to be assholes. Seriously, have you ever worked in IT? 90% of managing a help desk is thinking up new ways to put processes between problems and solutions.
I wouldn't want to be a flight attendant on these flights- I foresee rioting in the near future. This only deters passengers.
The plane is already in the AIR. No one will mysteriously board halfway thru the flight... the seats will remain EMPTY for the rest of the FLIGHT.
This isn't an upgrade to first class, this is just evenly spacing out passengers to make the ride more comfortable. Shame on you, United.
@albear:
You must not fly much, if at all. It is very common practice to spread out once aboard the plane since some people don't show up, which creates empty rows or rows with two empty seats.
@coan_net: I think it's for the same reason they won't let you up into business or first class if you only paid for coach. I suspect that in the airline's eyes, this is simply a different fare class. I can kind of see their point, actually.
it's not that unbeilevable. I mean would I expect carnival crusies to let me move into a suite above deck just because no one paid the 1000 bucks per night? The only problem is people can see the seats, if they were blocked off liek first class then no one would say anything.
@Esquire99: Exactly. If it was first class and the seat was open, does that mean you're entitled to move up because you don't like feeling like a sardine?
Sure, if you pay the extra amount.
Typical of people to pay for one then and then think they're entitled to something more expensive without paying for it.
@Megan Squier: I think I'll take my next flight on TWA. Wait, I can't since they don't exist anymore. Never mind.
This is like when I flew United from Beijing, China to Chicago. I purchased Economy, and WANTED to purchase an upgrade. They let me upgrade to Business but would not let me upgrade to first class! Not because its full, but because they only let you do 1 class upgrade. I get on the plane, and a quarter of first class is empty, there was no reason for me not to be able to upgrade. They probably lost out on an extra $500 on that stupid policy.
@Esquire99: Well, no one's purchasing these upgrades as it is anyway. So the amount of money United takes in for that flight remains unchanged if some people did end up changing seats.
Plus, it's not like all Economy Plus seats always go unsold and then get ravenously attacked by cheap fliers. Many people still fork over the money ahead of time for them.
This is more about United being unwilling to allow customers a bit more comfort when the space is available rather than it is about anyone wanting anything for free.
Yet if he was fat and couldn't fit in his own seat, or buckle his seatbelt with an extender he would have gotten the upgrade for free
@Megan Squier: It also may have made the attendents lives easier only have to wait on one section vs the two just because of one extra person.
The airline did your dad a favor, and what happens when you give people favors? They start to EXPECT those favors.
If you bump one person up to first class for free, then they will expect you do that all the time. Which apparently the expectation is contagious as you believe that's 'the reasonable' thing for a business to do.
@razremytuxbuddy: Legacy airlines are expensive, and provide terrible service.
My money always goes to SouthWest Airlines.
@albear: I think albear is a representative for United. I'm glad the corporate opinion is expressed and available here!
This is why I always try to be last onto the plane. The empty rows in the "extra legroom" session are very commonplace now, so I just get on as late as possible, and plop down in one of those seats as if it was my assigned one. A couple times I've had people actually assigned to the seat I take come after and point it out, but I usually just look at my ticket, say "oh, my mistake, so sorry," and move to the next empty row. I've never had a flight attendant say anything to me.
@albear: I disagree. It just shows how ''third-rated'' USA's airlines has become. I recently traveled with LOT (Polish airlines). They don't offer any fancy food, and planes are older (but well maintained). However, their customer service is stellar. Once every passenger is seated, and if there are any empty rows in coach, you can get an empty row just by asking nicely. It doesn't cost anything more to the airline, but it makes two passengers happy. And this is how you get repeat business.
@Coach Cal Is My Dream Weaver: Some people get off on enforcing rules just to be cruel. I have worked from some managers who have been like that. Some people like to feel like they are in charge by controlling people with ridiculous rules!
@CoarseLive: A flight from Texas to New York was $1500! dollars! I got the same flight at a better time for $150 (10% of United's price) with Southwest.
I can't believe how expensive everyone else is.
@snowburnt:
90% of working a help desk is common sense. 10% is product knowledge. What makes many help desk workers assholes is the people they are supporting not doing the common sense stuff.
wait, so how can you purchase a seat in empty rows? is it something you have to buy ahead of time?
@coan_net: I fly all the time for work and they have always let us move around in coach.
but - I do fly southwest a lot of the time so since no one has assigned seats it is not a big deal.
@Esquire99: Further, it does indeed cost the airlines money to allow you to move to those seats w/o paying, albeit indirectly. If they allowed people to move just because they were open, no one would ever purchase the upgrade, they would just wait until they got on and move for free.
No no no no no no no no no. It does *not* directly cost them ANY money to allow people to move seats once the flight is in motion. They've already lost that revenue if no one opted in.
Across the board, airlines have dramatically reduced capacity, which means increased flight-load. "Cramming", to you and I. It makes more sense from a customer-service standpoint to allow people to move *if* there is room than deny them and generate bad publicity a la in the OP's case. True, people may become more inclined to risk it if they know they can upgrade, but if most flights are anything like the ones I've been on in the past year that chance is slim. If you'd like to guarantee it, well, we're back to square 1.
Those seats were already unsold upgrades, it costs them nothing to allow someone to sit in them if they remain unsold by the time the plane pushes back. *HOWEVER* if they really wanted to get sneaky, they'd offer to allow you to pay to upgrade in-flight the same way they sell beer and alcohol.
As it is all those upgrade offers at the ticket counter and on their tv screens next to the gate do nothing but piss me off at how cheap all airlines, particularly this one, have become. I would not fly United again by choice.
@snowburnt: I don't like the idea of seat assignment in the same class as most people on this blog; however, comments on this blog and seat assignment have no correlation. Bad analogy!
This would be a huge problem for United. How would they determine who could move and who could not? I could see people writing into Comsumerist outraged that they were not one of the chosen passengers and had to still sit in coach!
Anyway, I was on a Delta flight out of Detroit this morning and there were probably 15-30 people on our DC-9-50. They let us lounge out wherever we wanted.
@veg-o-matic:
United offered them a little more comfort...for a price. If you're unwilling to pay that price, you don't get the benefit. The fact it doesn't "cost" United anything is irrelevant. When you check into a hotel, you don't expect to get upgraded to the presidential suit just because it's open, even though it would provide you with a little more comfort, and the space is available.
@idip: It's still coach, not first class. By moving the customer there, no additional cost is incurred (contrary to first class, where you get complimentary food/magazines/etc.) And it makes two people happy ( you ,and the other poor traveler, that was stuck in a seat besides you.)
You never traveled with ''non-USA'' airlines, didn't you?
Good customer service doesn't cost a dime, and makes repeat customers.
Let's compare this with my positive experiences with three non-US carriers in the last year: - Want to change your flight? $10 change fee. - I had a flight with a scheduled 8-hour layover. I got moved to an earlier flight for free, by asking nicely at the airline desk. 3. Food. Usually a complete meal, and actually tastes good. 4. 2 checked bags for free. Duh. 5. On a non-US discount carrier: seats almost equivalent to US first class, snacks and free liquor on a 1-hour flight.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you can fly a non-US airline, DO SO. Their customer treatment (especially United and US Airways) is totally out of line with reality.
@Joe Reilly: I just make sure that I'm the last one to board and spot the seat in an empty row. Works all the time if there is an empty or partially full row. They do not check tickets once seated.
@Murph1908: That's half right. I've gone from being on the help desk to managing a help desk to being on the other side. Help desk jockeys are pricks because they think they know more than everyone else.
United doesn't allow you to move up to an available Economy Plus seat for free because the NEXT TIME, they don't want you thinking "hey, I don't need to pay for Economy Plus, I'll just take my chances, and probably get one for free."
If you start giving the product away, then people become less willing to pay for it.
@rawsteak:
When you buy your ticket, and when you check in online, you're offered the opportunity to purchase an upgrade to "Economy Plus", which has more legroom. It's not first class or anything, but for those of us that are taller, it's a nice upgrade. It's like $40 to upgrade, so not all that many people do it, thus the seats go empty.
@Megan Squier: USA's airlines have become real jerks. Try traveling with Asian, or European airline. Besides Air France, that loses luggage or/and is on strike regularly, good customer service is still prevalent there.
I hate airline travel. I'll be glad when a better alternative comes along. Airline travel used to be exciting, now it's just a grind.