Flying United

I recently flew back to Pennsylvania with my fiancee (OK, it was Maryland since we flew into BWI) using United. Typically, I fly Southwest because I'm into the low-key nature of the organization. You get to sit where you like, they still bring you snacks, no charges for luggage, etc. We were on United because my parents had some credit on their account for flight issues from their last visit to Portland.

So, we're flying United and there's $25 baggage fee (and an extra $100 if you go over 50 lbs!) and no snacks on the flight and it's generally annoying. I feel it's a big mistake to make people want to bring everything on as carry-ons because it crowds things up and most people's carry-ons are way to big to begin with. But that's not what this is about.

As I said, Southwest does the who festival seating thing. The earlier you check-in (you can start 24-hours before take off), the higher your seating position. Seems reasonable. On United, we were assigned seats, but on none of our four flights were they side-by-side. At first I thought this may have been due to the way tickets were purchased. Perhaps the credit had to be used in separate transactions, or something. We always at opposite windows and either in the same row or a row apart. Not far away, but close enough that it didn't make sense that we should be separated.

The more I observed other passengers, though, the more I thought it was the system was doing it on purpose. Our first flight, a couple sat next to each other, one taking my seat. It worked out well, because their other seat was next to my fiancee. A similar situation occurred on the next flight, but the trade was with a solo flier. On our way back, the trade happened with family and friends spread all around the cabin and finally with a family of three who had been traveling from Ukraine. I couldn't figure out why so many groups of people traveling together would be separated. It didn't make any sense to me...

Until I remembered that, for an extra fee, the flier could change their seating. I have no evidence that this is how they are told to sell plane tickets, but it feels suspiciously like a way for United to squeeze even more money out of its customers. Given how many people I saw sitting away from their travel companions, I can't help but think it's true. Add this on top of the other annoyances of flying United (don't forget Continental!), I'm not inclined to give them another shot.