United allowing families to sit together for free

[lowlight]

And my honest opinion is that any parent who books a seat to save money instead of one that guarantees they sit together is a bad human being. We all get to have our opinions.

You actually can't fathom that not all families on an airplane are going to their DVC resort to have a 10k vacation? Poor people fly too, poor people have kids. People fly for reasons that aren't even remotely fun like vacations. Like back home to a family emergency, to a funeral too far to drive, etc. It's funny, I briefly worked with a guy who thought people were terrible parents if they couldn't buy their child a car when they turned 16, he actually said "you shouldn't have more kids if you can't afford to give them everything in life". It made me feel better at the time to think he was some anomaly in the world, but clearly he isn't.

 

[Tink3815]

In most cases, it is. Who is being forced to take a Disney World vacation???

exactly and as far as funerals, airlines should bring back the bereavement fares of the past- something that would help people of all ages when they need to travel for a funeral

 

[john7994]

exactly and as far as funerals, airlines should bring back the bereavement fares of the past- something that would help people of all ages when they need to travel for a funeral

Some airlines do have bereavement fare policies ...
https://www.delta.com/us/en/special-circumstances/bereavement-fares

 

[sam_gordon]

Does anyone know, did United ever offer a Basic Economy fare to start with (whatever fare that doesn't include seat selection)? Currently, here's their fare classes and what they include:

Notice every single one includes "choose your seat" in the price of the fare (so "free"). No one could save money by not selecting a seat.
So what exactly are they changing to "help" parents? If they had a BE fare and eliminated it, sure, now everyone gets to select their seat (like they got to before BE).

Anyone interested... go to united.com, and do a search to/from anywhere, for two people and see if there's even a choice to save money by not choosing your seat.

 

[Marrila]

Does anyone know, did United ever offer a Basic Economy fare to start with (whatever fare that doesn't include seat selection)? Currently, here's their fare classes and what they include:
View attachment 742008
Notice every single one includes "choose your seat" in the price of the fare (so "free"). No one could save money by not selecting a seat.
So what exactly are they changing to "help" parents? If they had a BE fare and eliminated it, sure, now everyone gets to select their seat (like they got to before BE).

Anyone interested... go to united.com, and do a search to/from anywhere, for two people and see if there's even a choice to save money by not choosing your seat.

Basic Economy is still bookable. It's not available on all flights. One way,
ORD to ATL May 12 is an example. BE shows up multiple times.
Seats are assigned prior to boarding.

 

[Lewisc]

Does anyone know, did United ever offer a Basic Economy fare to start with (whatever fare that doesn't include seat selection)? Currently, here's their fare classes and what they include:
View attachment 742008
Notice every single one includes "choose your seat" in the price of the fare (so "free"). No one could save money by not selecting a seat.
So what exactly are they changing to "help" parents? If they had a BE fare and eliminated it, sure, now everyone gets to select their seat (like they got to before BE).

Anyone interested... go to united.com, and do a search to/from anywhere, for two people and see if there's even a choice to save money by not choosing your seat.

Challenge accepted. EWR to MCO.

 

[sam_gordon]

Basic Economy is still bookable. It's not available on all flights. One way,
ORD to ATL May 12 is an example. BE shows up multiple times.
Seats are assigned prior to boarding.

Thank you. Two adults one way fare:
Basic Economy: $89
Economy: $119
$30 difference. Pretty significant

One adult, one child <12:
same pricing.

There are a couple steps in the booking process where the purchaser needs to acknowledge the BE restrictions. I was surprised it allowed me to select BE with an adult and child. I could not select seats (understandable). So would someone have to book BE, then call united to get seats assigned?

 

[Beer Me]

I see both sides. We flew once with an 18 month old and bought them a ticket and used a car seat when it wasn’t required. As they grew up I always booked to make sure no kids sat alone. Even now when they are college age I still try to keep us together. So in a way I don’t have a ton of sympathy for families who don’t plan well.

At the same time, if the basic economy rules change so that kids are guaranteed to sit with an adult in their party I don’t have a problem. It’s extremely unlikely to have any impact on me. Rules, benefits, perks, amenities and prices are changing all the time. You can always use a different airline if you don’t like the terms but honestly they all suck in their own way so it hardly matters.

 

[EACarlson]

Thank you. Two adults one way fare:
Basic Economy: $89
Economy: $119
$30 difference. Pretty significant

One adult, one child <12:
same pricing.

There are a couple steps in the booking process where the purchaser needs to acknowledge the BE restrictions. I was surprised it allowed me to select BE with an adult and child. I could not select seats (understandable). So would someone have to book BE, then call united to get seats assigned?

No, UA will assign the seats immediately, but you won't know your seat assignment until checking in is my understanding. The only way you would know would be to look at the seat map before and after you book and see if you can spot the difference in seats assigned.

 

[bfost87]

Thank you. Two adults one way fare:
Basic Economy: $89
Economy: $119
$30 difference. Pretty significant

One adult, one child <12:
same pricing.

There are a couple steps in the booking process where the purchaser needs to acknowledge the BE restrictions. I was surprised it allowed me to select BE with an adult and child. I could not select seats (understandable). So would someone have to book BE, then call united to get seats assigned?

Even more significant the further you go; we fly out of SEA to MCO; it's usually $60-$80 more per ticket when I look

 

[MarBee]

Wait till people find out that children’s tickets at the movies are cheaper than adult tickets, and they get the same sized seat. The horror!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Wait till people find out that children’s tickets at the movies are cheaper than adult tickets, and they get the same sized seat. The horror!

Oh you must not have heard about AMC's new ticket policy..seats are now priced by location. Yeah they still have child, adult and senior rates but you want the middle of the row? You pay a surcharge. You want a middle of the theater that counts as a surcharge. Cheaper is front of the theater

 

[MarBee]

Oh you must not have heard about AMC's new ticket policy..seats are now priced by location. Yeah they still have child, adult and senior rates but you want the middle of the row? You pay a surcharge. You want a middle of the theater that counts as a surcharge. Cheaper is front of the theater

I have heard. But a 10 year old is still saving $5 to sit in a seat that a grown-up is. A travesty!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I have heard. But a 10 year old is still saving $5 to sit in a seat that a grown-up is. A travesty!

True although let's be real parents (well some) would still gripe that they have to pay more now when their kids don't even pay attention to the movie, they should get a discount for that and not have to pay to select their seats..

 

[MarBee]

True although let's be real parents (well some) would still gripe that they have to pay more now when their kids don't even pay attention to the movie, they should get a discount for that and not have to pay to select their seats..

I know right! Imagine some people complaining about not getting a discount! The nerve!

 

[sam_gordon]

Wait till people find out that children’s tickets at the movies are cheaper than adult tickets, and they get the same sized seat. The horror!

If that's the movie theater's policy, then the people who don't like the policy don't need to go there. See how that works? Isn't that better/easier than doing business with a company and then complaining because the company is following their posted policy?

THAT'S been my issue all along. I don't care whether you get a discount or not. I *DO* care when someone agrees to a policy (purchasing a ticket that says your seat will be randomly assigned) and then complain when the company does EXACTLY what it said it would do.

Airlines change their policy so kids sit with adults? Fine. I really don't know or care how much the person sitting next to me paid for their seat.

 

[MarBee]

If that's the movie theater's policy, then the people who don't like the policy don't need to go there. See how that works? Isn't that better/easier than doing business with a company and then complaining because the company is following their posted policy?

THAT'S been my issue all along. I don't care whether you get a discount or not. I *DO* care when someone agrees to a policy (purchasing a ticket that says your seat will be randomly assigned) and then complain when the company does EXACTLY what it said it would do.

Airlines change their policy so kids sit with adults? Fine. I really don't know or care how much the person sitting next to me paid for their seat.

Awesome! Since United and Frontier changed their policy, you are all good! Have a great weekend

 

[EACarlson]

I have heard. But a 10 year old is still saving $5 to sit in a seat that a grown-up is. A travesty!

You're missing the proper analogy. The proper analogue would be if the movie theater allowed someone with a childs ticket to take that prime seat in the middle while paying for the front corner.

 

[Tink3815]

You're missing the proper analogy. The proper analogue would be if the movie theater allowed someone with a childs ticket to take that prime seat in the middle while paying for the front corner.

you are correct, we all know children pay a lesser price for certain items, Ie kids size meals, but the value or amount they receive is less based on the amount they paid

 

[MarBee]

You're missing the proper analogy. The proper analogue would be if the movie theater allowed someone with a childs ticket to take that prime seat in the middle while paying for the front corner.

So again, in your scenario, a parent will purchase a middle seat basic economy ticket for themselves, and then they are gifted a window seat for their child at the same price as basic economy?
Therefore, you are financially harmed because there are now less window seats available, so to secure a window, you’d have to pay for one?

Just like in the movie theater, if someone paid for front corner, and then they moved their seat to middle theater and didn’t pay for it. You had to pay extra for your middle theater seat, so they better have paid the same price? If not, you were harmed by this?

I realize I’m replying with a bunch of snark. I’m just trying to understand here. Truly. I truly don’t understand why people are still on about this. I’m on about it because I’m bored out of my mind while in bed with the flu. But normally I truly would not care enough about other people’s seats to waste a minute of my life writing about it on a blog about Disney. If I paid full price for my seat, that’s what I paid. If someone got it at a discount, good on them. I don’t need to know the history of how their seat was obtained.