That's not how it fucking works. You think the job is over once everyone is boarded? You sit in the seat you are assigned to. End of story. How is this even a point of conflict? Yea, let's let this guy just do whatever he wants and sleep across an entire row just because. No, you follow the rules that are set.
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United boots bride & groom traveling to their wedding from half-empty plane
- Thread starter Thebeardofknowledge
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That's not how it fucking works. You think the job is over once everyone is boarded? You sit in the seat you are assigned to. End of story. How is this even a point of conflict? Yea, let's let this guy just do whatever he wants and sleep across an entire row just because. No, you follow the rules that are set.
No, you have it twisted. The purpose of seating assignments is not solely to avoid conflict when boarding, there are actually plenty of them. Some have already been brought up by others in this thread and there are sure to be many more that haven't.
You bought specific seats, you sit in your specific seat, that is the end of it. And I am pretty sure your last sentence doesn't even mean anything you just thought it sounded good or something?
ClosingADoor
Member
Then you just make the assumption the staff was overly aggressive. Sounds to me the passengers refused to just take their seats and demanded an upgrade, so they created the conflict. It doesn't work that way. Asking someone to not be in your seat is also not a conflict.
You buy a seat, you sit in it. Why would you assume you can just take a more expensive seat because it is free? This is not expected in any other situation. I'm not going to demand an upgrade to a better hotel room just because it is free for example.
andthebeatgoeson
Junior Member
Hold up. They trying to nba people after the door was closed? Everyone moves if seats are open. These dudes are the worst.
They didn't want to pay the difference. The couple just wants to open a way for a lawsuit.
Earthbound64
Banned
They just got married - isn't that suffering enough?
Skellig Gra
Member
I saw this earlier. I am highly skeptical of their story. Someone was already asleep across their seats when they boarded. Acting like they didn't know what Economy Plus is. Trying to upgrade after you are on the plane. Doesn't make a lot of sense but I suppose it could be true.
Fenderputty
Banned
If it's a half open flight it seems like it would be easy. In fact at this point I would argue that United made it a bigger deal than it needed to be.
Yes I know what fishing for a free upgrade is.
CrimzonSamurai
Member
I'm just saying I don't think the flight attendants have the ability to make sales or upgrades without higher level approval.
I don't know about United specifically but I have used a lot of airlines and been upgraded many times. If the flight attendant can't do it on United that would be unusual. I have never been asked to pay for it, they just let you take it. Flight attendants do it all the time.
That's why the middle guy never moves to the aisle when the aisle guy doesn't show up. He just has elbow-fights with window guy all flight long.
If you're willing to bust out your credit card, the FA can take payment from you then and there.
This. People don't just sprawl out during boarding. Add the false claim that an Air Marshall was involved and the story starts to sound fishy.
Plus, if they were just moving to open seats, why move to nicer seats? Why not just move to other seats in the same class?
Why should you get a free upgrade? If you want a nicer seat, pay for it.
Not to mention the fact that the people who did pay for the upgrade will be pissed that other people are just walking up and taking the same thing for free.
Why should they give away product for free? If anyone can take an upgrade for free, then no one will ever pay for an upgrade.
If you want it, pay for the seat. Part of the reason air service in the US is crap is because everyone wants the lowest fares possible. Race to the bottom that the carriers are all too happy to accomodate.
They do. UA FAs can take payment from you on-board for the upgrade. Though if it is early enough in the boarding process they'll tell you to go see the GA, because the GA can sell the upgrade cheaper than the FA can.
Fenderputty
Banned
Right but if nobody was complaining why even make it an issue. Once an attendeant makes it an issue, somone with authority to make the decision still went with, "pull em off"
The couple was clearly freeeloading. I'm just saying the company could let some freeloading slide for some good PR is all
If the story is complete fabrication and the flight was full, United action makes more sense
C'mon man, just stop. You're making these weird interpretations of posts to try and wiggle yourself out of this stupid hole you've made for yourself.
But... of course everyone wants the lowest fare possible. People chasing lower prices is a feature of capitalism, not a bug. If that creates an untenable market then we should nationalize air travel. That's a pretty different conversation tho.
You've been misinterpreting my posts all along in an attempt to start a fight so ¯_(ツ
_/¯.Least I never went aggro or called you idiotic. Really don't get why you're taking this so personal. Was your uncle killed by someone moving seats or something?
For one, you are taking their story at face value. If sleepydude does not exist, do you hold the same opinion? Secondly, if you allow people to move into more expensive seats on their own and without an approved upgrade, you destroy the luxury value of those seats. Try moving behind home plate at a baseball game sometime just because the millionaires didn't show up that day. The flight attendants double are also ushers on a plane.
It's a matter of what the public wants.
It's either cheap, no frills service, or full service at a cost.
Either is a valid answer, but those who complain about the lack of full service at bargain basement prices aren't being intellectually honest.
No, you're not going to get French Laundry service at Denny's and whining about it just looks petty.
That seems to be the situation here. These folks paid for the cheap seats. They got the cheap seats. They're whining because they didn't get premium service and a free upgrade.
What if other passengers complain that they should get an economy plus seat too? The plane was half full.
What do you do now mr. Customer service?
Not to say that the story isn't fishy but Economy vs Economy Plus fukken lmao. There's hardly a difference between those seats, so who gives a shit if the plane's half empty and people in the economy cabin spread apart? Any airline that's that anal about economy seat assignments should rightly get mocked relentlessly.
PAULINK
I microwave steaks.
Rules are rules. Only appropriate to move if you ask, not move first and then get kicked off the plane later.
Arthr2ShdsJcksn
Banned
This story actually improves my opinion of United. I guess everyone wants to pile on, though, so whatever. Pretty sure this is only a story though, because of last weeks debacle.
They wouldn't have contacted the media for a measly extra few inches of legroom.
You've been misinterpreting my posts all along in an attempt to start a fight so ¯_(ツ
Least I never went aggro or called you idiotic. Really don't get why you're taking this so personal. Was your uncle killed by someone moving seats or something?
No one misinterpreted your post, you said something dumb and then constructed this weird argument to somehow justify it but it was still just as dumb.
ZackieChan
Member
You short mother fuckers don't know the value of a few more inches of leg room, especially on a long flight.
Just_myles
Member
They absolutely have to control the message here. Now anybody who has a bad experience is going to amplify it on social media and lazy reporters/bloggers are going to report on it.
TheBryanJZX90
Member
Wait you've never switched seats with someone when you weren't able to get a seat next to the people you're traveling with? Or when you wanted an aisle seat and the person there doesn't give a shit?
I had the same thing happen on a United flight. Plane was half empty but want to change to a different seat but didn't realize it was one of those economy plus seat and was asked to return to my original seat. I rarely fly them but when ever I do the people working appear very rude. I typically fly Virgin or Southwest as their customer service is far better. In my 20+ years of flying, I've never liked flying with United. But this current story seems a little over exaggerated compared to what happen on the other flight which did deserve the media attention. Outside of the leg room I can't recall if there are other perks like the choices in entertainment.
Sunster
Member
The piling on seems to be on the couple. This thread might as well be titled, "Horrid Couple Tries to SCAM United"
I guess it varies from airline to airline. I've been on flights where the flight attendant has told me I can grab a row of seats at the back of the plane if I want to stretch out and sleep.
I feel like you guys are missing the point. It is not that it is not possible to move seats under any circumstances. Yes, you can talk to a flight attendant and ask to move for x reason. But that's the point, you are assigned a seat for a reason and if you want to move you should talk to the flight attendant before you just sit wherever you feel like it.
There is actually more reasons to seating assignment than just what you are saying, but even if there weren't, you still need to sit where you purchased your ticket for. You bought the ticket and had the option to sit in any of those seats before hand, especially on a major carrier.
The flights I have been on that aren't all full will occasionally have the flight attendants offer people to sit in other spots. And every time I've seen it happen is at the attendants discretion. They might find the dude that is scrunched between two others and offer him to move, they might find the person who looks nervous and see of they want to move. They will offer it.
Even in this instance, if someone was laying in there seats, the attendant would probably ask him if he wanted to move since it is easier to move one person than two. Or maybe the attendant would have asked them of they would like to sit up there if they weren't trying to be slick.
My first thought reading that statement as well. Isolating this case from the other stories, there is no motive in the statement for such an extreme action as a US Marshal to become involved if this couple truly were peacefully complicit in returning to their seats.
Jury needs more input on this one.
TheBryanJZX90
Member
I never asked the flight attendant anything in the examples I gave.
PipefishUK
Banned
I always kind of thought that assigned seats were something to do with if the plane crashes - thinking about it though, that's stupid.
I just got back (to the UK) from 3 weeks in Australia, flying via Vancouver with Air Canada ('Oh, you went the other way round?' - yes, yes, we did)
On the way out, on the Vancouver to Brisbane leg there were only 60 people on the whole plane. When everyone checked in, the woman behind the desk was like, 'You want a row to yourself?' - and changed everyone's seats so they got a row to lie on each.
When we got on, the flight attendants said, 'sit in your seats for take off and landing, but otherwise do whatever you want'.
I just got back (to the UK) from 3 weeks in Australia, flying via Vancouver with Air Canada ('Oh, you went the other way round?' - yes, yes, we did)
On the way out, on the Vancouver to Brisbane leg there were only 60 people on the whole plane. When everyone checked in, the woman behind the desk was like, 'You want a row to yourself?' - and changed everyone's seats so they got a row to lie on each.
When we got on, the flight attendants said, 'sit in your seats for take off and landing, but otherwise do whatever you want'.
Sho_Nuff82
Member
The extra details coming out makes this sound suspect.
United is a crappy airline, but their reputation does not entitle you to free upgrades. You're not a child, if you have an assigned seat on the flight, sit there.
United is a crappy airline, but their reputation does not entitle you to free upgrades. You're not a child, if you have an assigned seat on the flight, sit there.
Wellington
BAAAALLLINNN'
OK let's be clear:
-ZERO percent chance someone is sleeping across three seats during boarding and prior to takeoff. FAs monitor boarding pretty closely and would have seen them try to get to their seats and would have tried to fix it.
-The guy would have had to be upright and strapped in for take off as FAA regulations dictate.
-As has been mentioned, if they wanted to get upgraded to premium economy they could have asked at the gate. I am a tall guy and ask before every flight and I get a seat every time there is one available.
-The FAs and captains are the judge/jury on a plane. What they say goes.
-ZERO percent chance someone is sleeping across three seats during boarding and prior to takeoff. FAs monitor boarding pretty closely and would have seen them try to get to their seats and would have tried to fix it.
-The guy would have had to be upright and strapped in for take off as FAA regulations dictate.
-As has been mentioned, if they wanted to get upgraded to premium economy they could have asked at the gate. I am a tall guy and ask before every flight and I get a seat every time there is one available.
-The FAs and captains are the judge/jury on a plane. What they say goes.
ZackieChan
Member
Do you ask when checking in or at the gate? Do you have to pay?
Wellington
BAAAALLLINNN'
When at the gate. I'm just in.
Ok? And you were wrong to do it and they would have every right to boot you off of the plane if you refused to go back to your seat.
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