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

[Anonymous]

Paying for regular seats on an airplane just so you can know in advance what they are is such a scam. I never do this and neither should you. The only thing to pay extra for is a bigger seat with more room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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

I learned after a situation like this that if you do not have status..you do not even see the full selection of seats. They only show you the crappy ones

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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

I learned after a situation like this that if you do not have status..you do not even see the full selection of seats. They only show you the crappy ones

That isn’t what happened to me (PP you’re quoting). Almost the whole flight is empty, I see all the seats, I just have to pay varying amounts for all but the 12 in the last two rows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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

I learned after a situation like this that if you do not have status..you do not even see the full selection of seats. They only show you the crappy ones

That isn’t what happened to me (PP you’re quoting). Almost the whole flight is empty, I see all the seats, I just have to pay varying amounts for all but the 12 in the last two rows.

Well if it makes you feel better, British Airways charges for ALL seat assignments, even in business class, fares that are $3k+.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?"

Everyone else realizes that middle of the plane is more desirable than last 2 rows. For obvious reasons. You will likely get on and off earlier. So they aren’t just regular degular seats in the middle. The people schlepping to the back will get on last, run out of overhead space, and have to deal with people lining up next to them waiting to use the bathroom. I think you realize this and are just playing dumb that you can’t see the appeal of the middle of the plane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?"

Everyone else realizes that middle of the plane is more desirable than last 2 rows. For obvious reasons. You will likely get on and off earlier. So they aren’t just regular degular seats in the middle. The people schlepping to the back will get on last, run out of overhead space, and have to deal with people lining up next to them waiting to use the bathroom. I think you realize this and are just playing dumb that you can’t see the appeal of the middle of the plane.

You got me! I'm just a real dummy!! Get over yourself, PP. There is no gotcha moment to be had here, I'm just complaining about a greedy airline. You need to relax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?"

Everyone else realizes that middle of the plane is more desirable than last 2 rows. For obvious reasons. You will likely get on and off earlier. So they aren’t just regular degular seats in the middle. The people schlepping to the back will get on last, run out of overhead space, and have to deal with people lining up next to them waiting to use the bathroom. I think you realize this and are just playing dumb that you can’t see the appeal of the middle of the plane.

You got me! I'm just a real dummy!! Get over yourself, PP. There is no gotcha moment to be had here, I'm just complaining about a greedy airline. You need to relax.

Seems like you’re the one all worked up. You will take you free seat in the back row and like it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?"

Everyone else realizes that middle of the plane is more desirable than last 2 rows. For obvious reasons. You will likely get on and off earlier. So they aren’t just regular degular seats in the middle. The people schlepping to the back will get on last, run out of overhead space, and have to deal with people lining up next to them waiting to use the bathroom. I think you realize this and are just playing dumb that you can’t see the appeal of the middle of the plane.

You got me! I'm just a real dummy!! Get over yourself, PP. There is no gotcha moment to be had here, I'm just complaining about a greedy airline. You need to relax.

Seems like you’re the one all worked up. You will take you free seat in the back row and like it.

The issue is that the airlines typically do not make it clear that you have to pay for even a "regular" seat until you are past the point of comparing airline fares. it is things like this that make me appreciate Southwest.

[Anonymous]

Think of it more like buying tickets to a live theater performance or a sporting event. The "cheap seats" are literally cheaper for a reason. It's the same on planes - one price does not make you entitled to any seat of your choosing, it's the price for a given band of seats. The more desirable the seats, the more they cost.

Back when the seats were all the same cost, guess what, planes filled up from the front and the back rows were almost always empty. Because the back row of seats are not as comfortable. So by adjusting the pricing, the airline can balance demand, let the people who want to pay more get the better seats, and the people looking for a bargain get the worse seats.

Seems perfectly logical to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?"

Everyone else realizes that middle of the plane is more desirable than last 2 rows. For obvious reasons. You will likely get on and off earlier. So they aren’t just regular degular seats in the middle. The people schlepping to the back will get on last, run out of overhead space, and have to deal with people lining up next to them waiting to use the bathroom. I think you realize this and are just playing dumb that you can’t see the appeal of the middle of the plane.

You got me! I'm just a real dummy!! Get over yourself, PP. There is no gotcha moment to be had here, I'm just complaining about a greedy airline. You need to relax.

Seems like you’re the one all worked up. You will take you free seat in the back row and like it.

The issue is that the airlines typically do not make it clear that you have to pay for even a "regular" seat until you are past the point of comparing airline fares. it is things like this that make me appreciate Southwest.

But isn’t Southwest changing this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?"

Everyone else realizes that middle of the plane is more desirable than last 2 rows. For obvious reasons. You will likely get on and off earlier. So they aren’t just regular degular seats in the middle. The people schlepping to the back will get on last, run out of overhead space, and have to deal with people lining up next to them waiting to use the bathroom. I think you realize this and are just playing dumb that you can’t see the appeal of the middle of the plane.

You got me! I'm just a real dummy!! Get over yourself, PP. There is no gotcha moment to be had here, I'm just complaining about a greedy airline. You need to relax.

Seems like you’re the one all worked up. You will take you free seat in the back row and like it.

The issue is that the airlines typically do not make it clear that you have to pay for even a "regular" seat until you are past the point of comparing airline fares. it is things like this that make me appreciate Southwest.

Elliott plans for Southwest to charge for seats and they already announced they will be eliminating the open cabin seating to move to assigned seats. Reason is that Southwest needs more revenue.

[Anonymous]

We typically fly American; and while they do this to some extent, there are a lot more free rows than just the last 2. It’s usually everything behind the wing or so. We’ve never had an issue, but we don’t book last minute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Think of it more like buying tickets to a live theater performance or a sporting event. The "cheap seats" are literally cheaper for a reason. It's the same on planes - one price does not make you entitled to any seat of your choosing, it's the price for a given band of seats. The more desirable the seats, the more they cost.

Back when the seats were all the same cost, guess what, planes filled up from the front and the back rows were almost always empty. Because the back row of seats are not as comfortable. So by adjusting the pricing, the airline can balance demand, let the people who want to pay more get the better seats, and the people looking for a bargain get the worse seats.

Seems perfectly logical to me.

Guess we found the airline shill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We typically fly American; and while they do this to some extent, there are a lot more free rows than just the last 2. It’s usually everything behind the wing or so. We’ve never had an issue, but we don’t book last minute.

Yes, it is this! Not sure why so many on here are trying to justify it. We can all except that we are now being asked to pay extra for better seats. What we are complaining about is that now we are being asked to pay extra, not with a basic economy ticket but with a regular economy ticket, for any seat assignment at all, with the exception of 12 seats at the very back. The middle seat in the third row from the back is still not a seat I think anyone should pay more for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?"

Everyone else realizes that middle of the plane is more desirable than last 2 rows. For obvious reasons. You will likely get on and off earlier. So they aren’t just regular degular seats in the middle. The people schlepping to the back will get on last, run out of overhead space, and have to deal with people lining up next to them waiting to use the bathroom. I think you realize this and are just playing dumb that you can’t see the appeal of the middle of the plane.

You got me! I'm just a real dummy!! Get over yourself, PP. There is no gotcha moment to be had here, I'm just complaining about a greedy airline. You need to relax.

Seems like you’re the one all worked up. You will take you free seat in the back row and like it.

The issue is that the airlines typically do not make it clear that you have to pay for even a "regular" seat until you are past the point of comparing airline fares. it is things like this that make me appreciate Southwest.

But people are lured in because of the supposedly lower fares. Something is less than Southwest now because it has been stripped down to bare bones services. Some people would say this is good because it gives you the choice to only pay for what’s important to you. But you aren’t going to get the most legroom, early boarding, free checked bag for the bargain basement discount price. That should be obvious now.