Question about seat assignments on United Airlines

The only time that has happened to me was when there was a plane change. I would contact united customer service and explained what happened. I actually usually find the opposite happens. E Plus is usually pretty empty and I can upgrade at check in.

You need to contact United ASAP to get reimbursed for being moved out of the class you paid for, even if it was a free mileage ticket. Workable is not equal to “as good.”

Contact United immediately about not being in Economy Plus when you paid for it. Doesn't mater if you paid miles, dollars, chickens or goats, they owe you a refund, not more miles, an actual refund. Don't take no for an answer.

Unfortunately, on the other flights where you were still in Economy Plus but were moved to different seats, you will have little or no luck arguing that with United. They may throw you a pittance of miles to make you go away.

United's official contract states that seat reservations are mearly suggestions about where you will actually end up, but you will almost always end up in the part of the cabin you paid for. So you did nothing wrong. If you have high enough status in the frequent flyer program, and are not just collecting miles through the credit card, they tend to do less of this type of changing. But nothing is ever guaranteed with any airline.

Thanks for your replies. I think I didn't state my issue very clearly. When I called United about having put us in Economy instead of the Economy Plus I had paid for, they did change us. She said it was lucky I had called (I was on hold for 45 minutes) because it was going to be a full flight. So we were moved to Economy Plus but not in the better location we had supposedly been put in initially. I know it's said there's no guarantee you will not have your seat assignment changed. We no longer have the flight status we used to have when my husband traveled for work all the time - now it's just from the mileage card. I do believe sometimes it's just an excuse that the configuration of the plane has changed - when I looked at the diagram it appeared to be the same make up as when I originally scheduled. So it sounds as if that is what I can expect going forward - get seat assignments and you will not know until close to flight time where they have put you.

We typically fly either Southwest or Delta. On Delta we upgrade to their version of Economy Comfort and did once have a Seat # change due to change in equipment. Was slightly confusing because I'd printed boarding passes the night before with the original seat numbers. Checked in at our local airport for a flight to SLC. Then was sitting at SLC awaiting our flight to Paris and noticed in my Delta App that our seat #s were different from what was on the boarding pass. Went and asked the gate agent which was the correct # and was just told "oh we sometimes have equipment changes" then printed me new passes. I have to wonder what would have happened if I hadn't known of the change until we'd boarded.

Seat assignments are never guaranteed. I looked at United's website and they say the same and that they'll do there best but don't say what happens if they put you in seats that cost less than you paid. Especially confusing if you paid with miles. You should at least get the difference back on the seats that were economy. Good luck.

Call United ASAP. Demand a refund. They’ll offer a voucher but talk with a supervisor. Also try the credit card you used and file a complaint against the charges. Also call or follow up during regular business hours to get United employees. Keep documentation names, dates, times too.
Sorry, I’m venting.... I am Premier Silver in which I picked an aisle seat in economy preferred, not a charge, but could upgrade to economy plus if available 24 hours before flight. I checked 3 days prior and found I had been reassigned a middle seat, Chicago- San Francisco. I called and complained and asked to get my economy plus early & it worked out. I called the premier line and asked for an explanation as I still didn’t understand why I got moved. United said most likely there was a change of planes; however I was told no seat assignment is guaranteed, just a seat on that plane. The first United rep stated someone bought that seat I was in for free.

Also I’m not sure what’s going on as my next trip I don’t accrue miles on one of my TAP (Portugal) flights.
Yes, Chicago-Amsterdam-Lisbon but no Lisbon - Frankfort ** then back on United to Chicago. Crazy , called Premier with no good explanation...

Yes, they in both cases reassigned us to middle seats. Right now jet lag is rampant so my original question didn't state the situation very well. But, it sure does give a person stress when they get to the airport and are told they now have a middle seat from London to San Francisco. Might work for some but for myself I need an aisle seat - that's why I scheduled it in November.

Sharon,
I had the same experience as you with United. Now when I book tickets far in advance I set a reminder on my phone to check my seat assignments monthly and more frequently in the last 6 weeks before my flight. On one flight I finally got my original paid economy plus seat back at the gate as I was boarding, thanks to the best gate agent ever.

There was another thread about this a few months ago, so you’re definitely not alone.

We flew Economy-Minus recently and used my Explorer-card status to pay for aisle seat assignments ahead of time -- and yes, I would have been quite vocal about being reassigned. At very least I would have expected the seat assignment charges refunded.

Flying United again in December, this time on miles, and I'm keeping an eye on the reservations. (At least we get checked bags with full Economy.)

We fly about 90% of the time on Delta or a sky team airline like Korean Air or Air France. When we use miles we can book any seat in the category that the award is for (economy or economy plus).

However, we do use American now and then and the last time I used miles on American, we were limited to seats in the middle of the aircraft (couldn't book those on the side next to a window). That was American's policy. Another reason for us to stick with Delta.

Delta has changed our aircraft a couple of times, but our new seats were about as good as the ones we had on the first aircraft.

For your TAP flight not earning miles, you need to look at the TAP chart on United’s website. Look at your ticket and class of service. Several TAP services don’t earn miles.

However, we do use American now and then and the last time I used miles on American, we were limited to seats in the middle of the aircraft (couldn't book those on the side next to a window). That was American's policy. Another reason for us to stick with Delta.

Depends how early you book and how full the flight is. I'm guessing Delta too doesn't hold open aisle or window seats on full flights just for award ticket holders. I've flown AA to/from Europe the last few years with award tickets and always managed to snag a window or aisle in advance. Some of these planes were not full, though, which helped. In one case, I wasn't able to snag an aisle seat until a few days before when I happened to check and one had opened up. That turned out to be a completely full flight.

Yes, our flight going over was completely full (the reservationist told me I was lucky I called so I could be moved out of Economy into Economy Plus). Coming home there were empty seats.

Another reason to check and recheck your reservation and seat assignments as your trip approaches. And check in as soon as checkin opens up, don’t wait to arrive at airport.

My cousin recently flew on Air France and even though she paid for better seats, at one point the seat assignments disappeared. Took a long phone call to get those seats pack into her reservation.