First time flying united in years - they charge extra for regular seats in the middle of the airplane???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Meanwhile I was looking at tickets today and American now charges $80 for your first checked bag.

$80???

I thought it was $35 😳

It's $40 each way, I assume PP meant for a roundtrip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like we really need reform: airlines should not be able to charge for seats, and for one suitcase. Who goes to Europe with no suitcase? Even nicer airlines like Air France charge for this now.

No one "needs" to go to Europe. If you want a suitcase, pay for it.

What an unhelpful post. Purchasing a ticket should provide some basics.

Agreed: like food on long flights, and baggage for long distances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have to seat you next to your young child. Just don’t select a seat. Don’t fall for the scam. You will be assigned seats together.

No, they actually don't.

Actually yes, most American carriers do guarantee family seating for children under 12, 13 or 14, depending on the carrier. They must seat the child next to a related adult— for free.

(BTW— this includes United, OP!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Same. I just flew with a child on united and the only seats we could reserve together without paying extra were the very back row.

Certainly leaves you feeling ripped off.

But OP just said that the tickets were $800 cheaper, so really they are $720 cheaper and she is still getting a good deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep. It stinks. They don’t care about us. We are just cattle they ship to and fro and we turn into dollars for them.

Ha ha yes just cattle being flown at 500mph in climate controlled seats, with access to hundreds of movies, free texting with friends, crossing the country in 5 hours. Jesus take a little perspective.

What are you, five? Flying for the first time??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have to seat you next to your young child. Just don’t select a seat. Don’t fall for the scam. You will be assigned seats together.

No, they actually don't.

Actually yes, most American carriers do guarantee family seating for children under 12, 13 or 14, depending on the carrier. They must seat the child next to a related adult— for free.

(BTW— this includes United, OP!)

BWAHAHAHA. This is absolutely not happening. Have you even been on a plane recently?

[Anonymous]

I just had this today. Booked an expensive economy (meaning refundable, not basic, etc) and the only seats I don’t have to pay to choose are in the two back rows. Prices range from $35 to $99. I don’t care very much so I picked one in the back row but it’s pretty odd that they now do this. American at least (a couple of months ago, anyway) only has paid options for seats near the front or with extra leg room. That seems like a better way to do it and not make their customers feel so nickel and dimed. And for those defending it, the reason we are annoyed is because it was not like this before. We are used to paying for a better seat, but we are not used to paying to “choose” a bad seat

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:so take the free seats in the back of the plane

do NOT take free seats apart and then ask people to switch

OP here. That's what I did. We are a family of four and needed to sit with the kids. If there hadn't been available seats where at least one adult could sit with one kid, I probably would have paid but I should not have to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's normal. A huge marketing fail on the airline's part. They should market the middle seats as the "normal" price, and the undesirable seats (or no seat selection, you get what you get even if they're not all together) as a discount.

But, yeah ... obviously you also think those seats are better, so why shouldn't they be worth more? Do you normally expect to order a drink from a restaurant, get a glass of champagne, and pay for a beer? Pay for hamburger and get a filet mignon? No, you get what you pay for. And that's now true for airline seats as well. If they really were "the exact same seats", you wouldn't care about not getting them. Whoever thinks it's worth the extra cost will get them.

Um, I don't actually. Hence my complaint. Did you read my post? I said: "which are just regular normal seats that just happen to be in the middle of the airplane?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normally we fly Southwest to visit family. This time United was $800 cheaper, so we are flying United for the first time in several years - what is up with having to pay extra for "preferred seats" which are just regular normal seats that just happen to be in the middle of the airplane? For our family of four, the only "free" seats available on our $400 tickets were the last row in the back of the airplane. If we wanted, we could pay $20/person for the privilege of sitting in the exact same seats, just in the middle of the airplane. There are no perks, no extra legroom or anything, they're just in the middle of the airplane. I am so annoyed at all the nickel and diming!! Just needed to vent.

Are you sure this is accurate? I fly United all the time. The seats that don’t have an up-charge are usually the last 15 rows or so- more rows on larger aircraft, used on international routes.

That's just what was available to us, the rest where we could get seats together must have been already booked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normally we fly Southwest to visit family. This time United was $800 cheaper, so we are flying United for the first time in several years - what is up with having to pay extra for "preferred seats" which are just regular normal seats that just happen to be in the middle of the airplane? For our family of four, the only "free" seats available on our $400 tickets were the last row in the back of the airplane. If we wanted, we could pay $20/person for the privilege of sitting in the exact same seats, just in the middle of the airplane. There are no perks, no extra legroom or anything, they're just in the middle of the airplane. I am so annoyed at all the nickel and diming!! Just needed to vent.

Are you sure this is accurate? I fly United all the time. The seats that don’t have an up-charge are usually the last 15 rows or so- more rows on larger aircraft, used on international routes.

I am surprised there are any free seats. Usually the United Basic does not let you pick a seat at all.

OP here, we bought Economy seats, not basic economy, which is why I was surprised that it was only seats in the back and not all the regular seats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normally we fly Southwest to visit family. This time United was $800 cheaper, so we are flying United for the first time in several years - what is up with having to pay extra for "preferred seats" which are just regular normal seats that just happen to be in the middle of the airplane? For our family of four, the only "free" seats available on our $400 tickets were the last row in the back of the airplane. If we wanted, we could pay $20/person for the privilege of sitting in the exact same seats, just in the middle of the airplane. There are no perks, no extra legroom or anything, they're just in the middle of the airplane. I am so annoyed at all the nickel and diming!! Just needed to vent.

So United without assigned seats was $800 cheaper than Southwest with assigned seats? Did you not realise why? You were comparing apples and oranges. Those seats were cheaper because you were forgoing the ability to choose seating.

OP here - WOW. Let me break this down for you. I paid for Economy seats. When you get Economy, you get to choose seats. What I didn't realize was that the seats I could choose from were limited to only seats in the back. Do you understand now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:so take the free seats in the back of the plane

do NOT take free seats apart and then ask people to switch

I just booked a United flight for a couple weeks out and free seats were not an option on what looked to be an empty flight.

Free seats are seats that you can't reserve in advance. They're what's left at 24 hours before departure and get randomly assigned then.

I should have said AVAILABLE seats. You can choose seats when you buy an Economy ticket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normally we fly Southwest to visit family. This time United was $800 cheaper, so we are flying United for the first time in several years - what is up with having to pay extra for "preferred seats" which are just regular normal seats that just happen to be in the middle of the airplane? For our family of four, the only "free" seats available on our $400 tickets were the last row in the back of the airplane. If we wanted, we could pay $20/person for the privilege of sitting in the exact same seats, just in the middle of the airplane. There are no perks, no extra legroom or anything, they're just in the middle of the airplane. I am so annoyed at all the nickel and diming!! Just needed to vent.

Are you sure this is accurate? I fly United all the time. The seats that don’t have an up-charge are usually the last 15 rows or so- more rows on larger aircraft, used on international routes.

I am surprised there are any free seats. Usually the United Basic does not let you pick a seat at all.

That’s why I never book United Basic fares. There is a reason why they’re cheap. I’m sure for some, Basic fares are attractive, but you have to know what you’re buying.

It wasn't Basic. It was regular Economy, where you can choose your seats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have to seat you next to your young child. Just don’t select a seat. Don’t fall for the scam. You will be assigned seats together.

No, they actually don't.

Actually yes, most American carriers do guarantee family seating for children under 12, 13 or 14, depending on the carrier. They must seat the child next to a related adult— for free.

(BTW— this includes United, OP!)

That might be their policy, but they don't "have to." They will if they can. If there aren't enough empty seats that are together like that, what are they going to do? Move some other passengers who paid a fee for their specific seats?