TRAVELERS' CHECK : Seat denial is right call by airline
Posted on Monday, January 5, 2009
Fayetteville residents David Young and Katherine Shurlds were on a United Airlines Airbus A320 on Dec. 26.
A flight attendant wouldn't let a passenger in the crowded back of the plane move into an empty seat up front.
In this rare case, the continued discomfort of airline passengers near the back of the plane must go unchanged, and The Guru shall explain why in a moment.
Readers may recall The Guru's Dec. 8 column describing how Young and Shurlds scheduled a November flight from Northwest Arkansas to Denver to Los Angeles for $200 apiece. It was a terrific price.
The airline, however, canceled the part that took them from Arkansas to Denver, meaning they'd have to drive to Denver to depart for Los Angeles. Instead, the couple got a refund and traveled to Reno, Nev.
The issue is far different this time.
Young and Shurlds were flying from Las Vegas to Denver at 6 a.m. Dec. 26.
Wait one minute: Reno and Las Vegas are both in Nevada. What could require so much travel to Nevada? Fascinating, indeed, but The Guru bets it would be unwise to speculate and get back to the flight.
All the passengers in the Airbus leaving Las Vegas were seated toward the back.
A man asked to move to an open seat toward the front.
"There he was, sitting with two other people, and there they were: An entire half plane of empty seats and the answer was 'No, those are seats that people have to pay to get,'" Shurlds writes.
"I looked behind me and every other bench had at least two people in it, many with three. So they flew for an hour and a half, looking at all those empty seats. Insanity."
Frustrating maybe, but The Guru knows what gives.
United's 11 rows of "preferred" seats at the front of the plane give an extra five inches of leg room.
For five inches and a seat toward the front, passengers must pay an extra $14, United spokesman Robin Urbanski said. Passengers can't hand cash to the flight attendant and move, either. It must be done before boarding.
"Preferred" seats are more expensive on international flights, too. United gets $119 more for its Los Angeles-to-Tokyo jaunt.
A survey showed two out of three passengers who paid for extra leg room would pay for it again, Urbanski said.
United passengers are allowed to move to open seats within their economy seating area.
American and Delta don't sell so-called "preferred" seats or anything similar, and they don't let economy passengers sit in first-class or business-class seats when it gets full near the back.
In this rare instance, The Guru sides with United. It's fair to ask passengers to pay extra for better seats and to forbid others to move for free.
What's the alternative? If the man who asked to move was allowed to move, 25 other passengers were sure to request the same when he turned around to announce "there sure is a lot more leg room up here."
The Guru won't pay extra for a better seat - ever. His knees, shredded by misguided soccer dreams, can just ache.
Robert J. Smith's column about people on the move in Northwest Arkansas appears each Monday. He can be reached at rsmith@arkansasonline.com.
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