Getting free main cabin extra

I actually read about this practice, or heard it on somewhere like "Good Morning America" of this becoming a trend. Sort of gambling on a "mini-upgrade". Probably fine if you can live with whatever middle seat you can get if you strike out, and of course if you are traveling solo.

Yes traveling alone, and this is a tiny CRJ 700 so no middle seats.

I'm glad you snagged an extra legroom seat. It helps that your aircraft has no middle seats.

I would never try this on a longer flight, especially transatlantic. With full flights, being stuck in a middle seat would be torture.

Not a risk I would take,but as long as you know ALL the possibilities, then go for it.

Because the next time you could find yourself stuck in the middle seat in the back. And then you’ll know why you didn’t think of this trick earlier. It doesn’t always work. I’ve watched some royal fits being pitched at airports by people who thought like you and then discovered reality was painful

Sure it works on a CRJ where you’re never going to be stuck in the middle seat in the back.

I was flying home from Paris last year and got to watch a man have a little hissy fit at the air at the gate when he discovered it basic economy actually did mean he was in the last row of the plane in the middle seat Yep, he got what you paid for a seat on the plane, he hated it, and I bet he never did it again.

I think it’s possible to play the game even at a main cabin fare, not selecting a seat and hoping for only comfort available later at check in. That way of course a person is foregoing something paid for, seat selection. With basic economy a person has no skin in the game.

Except for one's own body and comfort !!

The other problem with these basic economy fares is you often don’t have some of the flexibility.

I was just reading on a travel group on Facebook a post from some woman who’s very upset because she’s having to change her trip and her basic economy change fee is almost as much as the original airfare. For people like me who do make changes that risk just isn’t worth it. Save $100 to lose 200 when I have to make a change? no that’s not really going to work for me.

You rolled the dice and won. very good. You were lucky only main cabin extra and exit rows were left. Probably not an approach most of us would take. It was a technique, but simply lucky.

simply lucky.

Not really luck. The choices for me were either accept the back row (the worst seats on the plane), or wait for better by checking in later.

Normally I wouldn’t buy basic economy but this was a one way ticket home.

I think it’s possible to play the game even at a main cabin fare, not selecting a seat and hoping for only comfort available later at check in

Now you are into different territory, and I doubt that would happen on any airline. What you would need to hope for is an oversold situation, but in that case, people with status, in comfort or premium will be upgraded to first, then people with status in main will fill comfort seats, and you get what seats are vacated. There is just a pecking order to class upgrades, and that happens in the last half .
hour before boarding, unless you are awarded an upgrade earlier due to status.

So yes, you can move from random seat to an exit row, front of the plane, or other seat usually available to main cabin and someone with a bit of status, but not going to change classes of tickets just by checking in late.

Another point regarding main cabin extra, at check in anyone with even the lowliest OneWorld status can select MCE for free, so there will usually be a shuffling into those seats if they are available. I highly recommend the bulkhead in MCE over Premium Economy on AA long haul.