You used to be able to take any open seat in your cabin once the doors closed. You might move closer to the front, grab an aisle seat, or head for an empty row in the back so you could stretch out.
As a kid I remember making a bee-line for an empty middle row on an American Airlines flight from Honolulu to Sydney, so I could lay down and sleep.
- Self-upgrading was never allowed. You couldn’t just move from economy to business class.
- Now, though, airlines charge for ‘premium’ seats in coach so they don’t usually let you go from regular coach to extra legroom seats for free, even if the seats are empty once the doors close.
- People might not pay if they knew they could take an extra legroom seat for free that was empty once everyone had boarded!
On a recent American Airlines flight a flight attendant “tore the cushions off” empty extra legroom Main Cabin Extra seats so that passengers couldn’t sit there.
A passenger went to sit in these empty seats. No one was using the six empty seats. The flight attendant said he needed to move because they were $150. Someone else went to sit there and told the same thing. An announcement was made not to sit in the seats. Two more times ppl went to sit there because it was six seats open, and he literally tore the cushions off.
Post by @summerzcrystalView on Threads
The flight attendant said these are $150 seats, but didn’t offer to sell them. Crewmembers at American don’t have the ability to upsell these, like they do at some other airlines, which is a lost revenue opportunity but the airline is very careful about making IT investments.
Years ago open seats were pretty much fair game. Now different airlines take different approaches. Southwest still has open seating! And once you’re on the plane it’s Lord of the Flies complete with seat-saving and crumpled up tissues to keep people away from the middle seat they hope to save.
Delta calls their extra legroom seats at the front of the plane “Comfort+” and it’s a different fare type. Effectively, it’s a different cabin just like coach is different than business class (yet doesn’t pay the higher tax for this demanded by the U.K.).
When American Airlines introduced free drinks to Main Cabin Extra extra legroom seats they allowed passengers to move into these seats if empty.
Then they made it officially against the rules but left it up to flight attendants whether or not to stop passengers from moving into those seats. However, two years ago began asking flight attendants to crack down on passengers moving to get extra space for free.
It’s not unusual for Main Cabin (MC) customers to ask to change seats after they’ve boarded the aircraft – to sit next to a family member or get out of a middle seat, for instance. However, customers may not be familiar with our seat change policy; particularly when it comes to Main Cabin Extra (MCE) seats. While you may allow a customer to move to an available Main Cabin seat after boarding is complete, they’re not permitted to move into an MCE seat unless they are booked in that class. So, if a customer asks to move to a seat in a different seat classification (i.e., MC ot MCE, MCE to First, etc.) politely decline their request unless there is a customer service or regulatory conflict present.
In the past, United has argued that passengers moving up to open seats with extra legroom is immoral; that it’s unfair to other passengers and it’s stealing from the airline.
The customers who choose to pay for Economy Plus are then afforded that extra space. If you were to purchase a Toyota, you would not be able to drive off with a Lexus, because it was empty. ^BA
— United Airlines (@united) September 7, 2019
But according to this logic United shouldn’t be able to sell cheap fares or offer MileagePlus awards because it is unfair to people that pay full fare? Of course passengers who buy Economy Plus get Economy Plus and are in no way harmed when other passengers get it free – via elite status, via luck of the draw or otherwise.
Sitting in an open seat that can never be sold (because the plane is already in the air) is not the same thing as taking a physical car off of a lot where it is waiting to be sold. In the former case United loses nothing, in the latter case the loss is real.
It seems strange to compare United slimline economy seats to a Lexus, although I once had a flight attendant compare Economy Plus to a Mercedes.
The better argument is: we do not allow passengers to move to better seats without paying extra (except under our own terms, for our operational convenience or elite perks) because that would encourage passengers to take a chance rather than paying on future trips. The actual reason: It’s not allowed because we don’t allow it, not because of some broader moral imperative.
Comparing changing to an open seat nobody else is using can’t be stealing, because the airline hasn’t given up anything, and claiming it harms other passengers isn’t right either because other passengers still got exactly what they paid for.
(HT: Johnny Jet)
I’m totally fine with this. This is a different product at a different price and American has a right to stop people from stealing this service without paying . . . which is starting to seem like an odd concept in the United States where stealing has been decriminalized in many places. The fact that the seat is empty is irrelevant.
My type of FA wouldn’t care about seat cushions , and also wouldn’t care about the underwear rule . Rules can be ignored .
While I’ve never attempted to move to a seat outside the price of the seat that I have paid for, I cannot suppress a chuckle over an FA actually physically removing the seat covers. I have to wonder what would happen if he injured himself during the endeavor.
Would the flight be delayed, or cancelled for being one crewmember short?
Would an injury compensation claim ensue?
Now, contrast this against the idea of helping the 80 year old woman stow her Carry-on in the overhead bin. We’ve already seen that movie. It’s a ~ you brought it, you lift it over your head ending. For fear of injury, not covered by Workers Comp.
Hmmm… just doesn’t feel like defacing the interior of the airplane is a good use of one’s time.
So if I buy a ticket to a ball game in the cheap seats, and I see there are open seats right behind home plate, I can just go down and take those, right? Because it’s not like they can be sold once the game has started.
If I buy nosebleed tickets to a Taylor Swift concert and I see with my binoculars that a couple of the front row seats are empty, I can just go down and take those right? Because it’s not like they can sell them once the concert has started.
@Bob Spoons +1
The United States has become a nation of moochers who can rationalize anything with their malignant sense of entitlement that somehow absolves them of their need to buy or produce the things that they want.
This is the world we live in. If I can’t afford something I should be given it anyway. While it might seem on the surface allowing flight attendants to sell empty MCE seats seems like a good idea boarding is hectic and chaotic enough without people trying to buy a better seat and slowing down the process. Not to mention what happens when two or more passengers ask to buy up for the same seat. If getting extra leg room is that important a MCE seat can be purchased ahead of time.
What people don’t realize is that the people who buy the extra legroom seats are guaranteed their seats. Not so with the people who buy the cheaper seats. It costs the airline nothing to let people move to the extra room seats. It’s like a couple who choose a window seat and an aisle seat hoping that the middle seat will be empty. It’s a gamble. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Is the airline going to make more money with this policy? Answer: NO. And it makes for negative feelings among the customers.
@BobSpoons … If you pay for any ticket to Taylor Swift , you have paid too much . If you find yourself accidently at Taylor Swift , you ought to Run Away .
Fine with what the FA did. If you don’t enforce, then you disincentive people from paying for the better seats as they think they’ll can move seats every flight.
It would be easier for the FA just to first warn and then log the offending passenger and have AA IT send an email with an invoice after the fact. Of course that requires a good IT setup.
IMHO, @Arturo is not correct. As Gary correctly identified, pax are paying an additional $ 150 to sit in Economy Plus/Extra/Premium. It’s no different than pax paying even more for Business or First Class. It’s an entirely different class of seat, so no, someone in Economy can’t simply take it at no cost (which would constitute theft). As for the thought that “it makes for negative feelings among the customers”, this argument is backwards: For certain the pax who paid for higher classes are going to be pissed if others get them for free, and no pax booked in economy has a right to be pissed for not getting a higher class for free.
I really don’t get the bashing of the Airline and the FA in this instance. If I had paid for a nicer seat and people were coming up to take them, I would actually applaud the FA for doing all 3 things they did. Asking passengers to move back to their assigned seats, making an announcement, then taking off the cushions. The problem is with THE PASSENGERS who have no regard for the rules, what they are told, and try to do whatever they want. Society needs to go back to shaming people who behave badly.
I usually don’t support AA FAs on anything but this time I think the FA did the right thing.
I’ve being traveling for business for over 20 years and American airline is the worst airline I’ve come across. They’re all about money,their customer service sucks,they’re always late. Their prices are always ridiculous. The best airline hands down is Southwest.
Bravo to the FA.I’m tired of all the people who think they are entitled to do whatever they want and justify it any way they want to. This is an obnoxious society and the book “The Ugly American” was way ahead of its time.