United limits Economy Plus to its own elites
First time here? Check out the site's "greatest hits" or read a random post from the archives. Feel free to ask a question, and consider subscribing to the latest posts via RSS or e-mail. Thanks for visiting!
Tim Winship notes a change to United Airlines’ Economy Plus program. Getting a seat in the forward section of coach, which offers up to 5 inches more legroom than the rear of the plane, certainly has always been a great feature, especially since American eliminated their “More Room Throughout Coach.”
Now, the zone is reserved for elites in United’s Mileage Plus program, and those who pay to upgrade their legroom. (If a flight is booked solid, you can get lucky and get seats in the E+ zone, too.)
The change to the policy is subtle, if you’re not looking for it. (I sure wasn’t.) Two categories of United customers are no longer given access to Economy Plus: passengers on expensive/full-fare tickets, and elites on other Star Alliance airlines.
While it may make it easier for United elites (myself included) to find a seat in the more spacious Economy Plus section, I don’t agree with Tim that this is a good thing. For starters, the people on the expensive tickets are subsidizing everyone else. Throw them a bone, for God’s sake. That way they’ll come BACK.
And the elites on other Star Alliance airlines now have little reason to choose United for their travels. If you’re hooked on a Star Alliance frequent flyer program, you can earn miles on any of the member airlines. Why give United your cash, when, as an elite, you can get an exit row seat on US Airways?
Maybe United thinks that more people will pay to upgrade their seats, but I have my doubts. If anything, I imagine that this could reduce revenue for the airline.
(image)
tags: travel | United Airlines | Economy Plus | UAL Corp. | frequent flyer
RSS Feed / Subscribe
Subscribe to Posts by Email
September 14th, 2006 at 4:42 pm |
There was a big fuss on the Dividend Miles Flyertalk forums about this issue. Many of them seem to agree that this will only hurt United, as there is no longer a perk for giving them their revenue.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=599616&page=1&pp=15
September 14th, 2006 at 4:42 pm |
There was a big fuss on the Dividend Miles Flyertalk forums about this issue. Many of them seem to agree that this will only hurt United, as there is no longer a perk for giving them their revenue.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=599616&page=1&pp=15
September 14th, 2006 at 7:54 pm |
I’m a UA elite, and I have to say, it’s sort of evening the playing field. I’ve flown on any number of other *A airlines, and have not seen any of them recognizing my *gold status, other than letting me board early.
However, it would be nice if all *A airlines recognized each others elites, and were consistent about it. That’s a pipe dream, I fear.
September 15th, 2006 at 9:10 am |
I definitely think you are right on this one. Let the full fares sit in E+. They paid almost twice what some of the Efares paid and if they are paying full fare they probably have to fly, so give them a reason to pick UA over USAir. So many times I’ve seen E+ with some extra seats so give out some perks to keep that full fare passenger happier.
Rob
http://www.theairlinehub.com
September 16th, 2006 at 4:46 pm |
I’m a US Airways preferred member but normally split my Star Alliance travel pretty evenly between US and UA. I’m torn about this change, as I can see how United was offering a lot more to frequent flyers from the rest of the Star Alliance than UA flyers were getting back, but at the same time, it’s frustrating.
It certainly means I won’t go out of my way to fly on United any more as I have sometimes in the past–and since UA’s regular economy section is often pretty dismal, I may even go out of my way not to fly United. However, I don’t really expect United to care, since I’m typically flying on discount tickets that aren’t making them any money anyway.
It would be great if the Star Alliance could take a break from expansion long enough to improve its cross-airline benefits. SkyTeam has recently (or, recently to me, anyway) made some major steps in that area: cross-airline club access is much smoother than it once was and accessing a partner club does not require a ticket on that partner airline, and all SkyTeam elites get access to preferred seating at the front of the plane (no more legroom, but faster getting off) and in exit rows on every Sky airline. It’s only a shame they don’t really have any airlines worth getting excited about.