United Airlines Flight Attendant Demands Payment For Passengers To Move To Open Seats After Takeoff

I commend a United Airlines flight attendant for not allowing a self-upgrade to extra-legroom economy class, even if the message could have been conveyed a little more gently.

United Airlines Flight Attendant: No Free Upgrade To Extra-Legroom Economy Class, Even After Takeoff (Yes!)

While flights tend to be more full these days, there are situations where the rear of the economy class cabin is packed full while the front (with extra legroom seats available for an upcharge or complimentary for MileagePlus elite members) has many open seats.

A passenger complained that on one such flight with many open seats in the front, a light attendant refused to let anyone move for free, such that everyone was “packed in like sardines” in the rear of the aircraft. He called it “poor customer service.”

@united insisting people either pay for upgrades or stay packed in like sardines on flights with plenty of open seats is poor customer service. pic.twitter.com/MoRW9PD5US

— Ben Houg (@benhoug) November 25, 2024

No, it’s very simple: you want a seat with more legroom or closer to the front? Pay for it. You can do so on a transactional basis with miles or dollars or if you fly United often enough, you can do so at no extra charge.

Rubbing salt in the wound of the traveler, he further complained that a flight attendant told passengers, “If you wanted to move seats, have your payment method handy.”

They made an announcement saying “if you wanted to move seats, have your payment method handy.”

— Ben Houg (@benhoug) November 25, 2024

That’s called revenue protection and that is exactly what United flight attendants are supposed to do. Sure, maybe this could have been communicated more gently (I wasn’t there, though), but just because there are open seats within the same cabin does not mean you are entitled to move to them.

View From The Wing argues, “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.”

I respectfully disagree.

So much of the value of elite status on United has eroded, but EconomyPlus is one of the few things left that makes pursuing elite status worth something. While it is rare, having an open middle seat makes the flight experience so much more enjoyable and is a modest reward for loyalty.

So Mr. Houg is wrong here: he got what he paid for and United has very good reasons not to allow for free upgrades to extra-legroom economy, primarily to reward those who do pay and not incentivize people to game the system (not pay in advance in hopes of upgrading for free after boarding).

The flight attendant handled the matter well…