
But…I still fly United.
I like to say that the reason I fly United is because I’m already so vested in the frequent flyer program that I just don’t want to waste my investment. And, like many others, who immediately agree with me, that’s true. But, if I’m going to be honest with myself and, also, all of you, there is a reason for that too.
I like the extra legroom of Economy Plus.
For those of you who don’t know it, United on most of its major flights, has seats that have been designed to do no more than give the patrons who have their butts parked in them, 5″ of extra legroom. The difference is something like 33″ regular seat, 38″ Economy plus. There are no further privileges than that. Its not business, its not first class. Its more legroom.
That can make a huge difference to flight comfort, especially to a frequent traveler like me. Its the difference between being cramped and being relatively comfortable (its not perfect by far). Its the difference between not minding the flight and hating it.
To get the Economy Plus seats, you either have to buy them at a nominal fee when they are available OR you have to have an Elite frequent flyer status. It keeps me coming back – as does preferred boarding and occasional upgrades. But it is Economy Plus that is my game changer.
I’ve had that discussion with many others and they tell me the same thing. That extra legroom is what they like about United. The complaints far exceed the billing and cooing but the that extra comfort is a HUGE plus, not a small one.
SO…..
This is what I now hear, from a good source. United, of course, recently bought and is now in the process of merging with Continental. They have trumpeted this in ads and even on the safety video that precedes all flights. They have stated clearly to Elite flyers that for now things are the same but expect some changes as the merger continues to evolve. Interestingly, and you’ll see why in a minute, they don’t say “further benefits” nor do they say “positive” changes. Its all bland, neutral and entirely colorless.
Know why? Because one of the changes being contemplated is the elimination of Economy Plus because Continental flights don’t have it. Now I’m not sure whether that’s the causal relationship, but that’s the reason for the discussion.
Now, we reach a nodal point for United.
IF they eliminate Economy Plus they are doing it, once again, for cost efficiency’s sake, not the customer’s. A decision that has been made by them that way over and over and over again. Which is why their service experience is horrible and pales by comparison to Virgin America’s, or Southwest’s.
IF they keep it and either retrofit Continental or just leave it as is, they will be doing what the customers’ demand, not cost efficiency, which in their case would not only be seen as a total shock but an awesome surprise – probably garner then a great deal of customer good will.
IF they eliminate Economy Plus, they will eliminate customers like me – and I will lead a campaign for that to happen.
IF they keep it, I will congratulate them publicly on their first wise decision in awhile and keep on flying them – and maybe even encourage a few to fly United or to keep flying United.
But I wonder if they’ve bothered to proactively query their customers about their thinking. No one is saying they have to kowtow to their best flyers – but getting their input would be a HUGE step forward for this airline. Not just going to their site to read what customers say, but an active campaign via Twitter, Facebook, email to top customers and ask for their input. PROACTIVE. That’s spelled p-r-o…United, you get the picture, right?
This is a chance for United to either redeem itself a bit and keep a service that many of their customers enjoy and expect – or be their usual model of service experience decrepitude and be non-responsive.
I challenge them to talk to their customers before they make what they are probably not seeing is a decisive moment whether or not the next time I and others are writing blog posts, we’re writing it from either a United jet….or a Virgin America jet.
Their call.

[…] Interesting Article Probably nothing that we didn't already know, but this article sites a source at UA/CO that they are contemplating eliminating Y+. https://www.enterpriseirregulars.com/…-of-the-usual/ […]
the reality is that E+ seats generally don’t sell well, they’re largely a loyalty play (much like first class and their unlimited domestic upgrades). but upgrades to first are mainly a loyalty play for their 1K flyers, prem execs only get upgrades once in a blue moon.
the bigger question is how much loyalty does E+ drive for the lower tiers of status (premier and premier exec)?
united does run customer sat surveys and capture a loyalty score (NPS), and i would assume they regress those results against that NPS loyalty metric. if they measure economy plus as part of the surveys than they could figure out what statistical impact those seats have on loyalty from the surveys. the bigger question is do those seats have enough of an impact on loyalty to justify the loss in revenue?
if they don’t measure E+ as part of their customer sat surveys, then it’s a decision that will be made on the bottom line and the bottom line alone. and we all know how that decision is gonna go.
As a UA frontline employee, I can tell you that all decisions being made right now are being made by CO mgmt. So whether E+ stays or goes, you can thank them for it.