E+ is not different than any other airline's normal seat that they reserve for the elite customers. For instance, since I don't have elite status on AS, they won't allow me to book online their aisle and window seats in forward cabin the cabin. The same thing goes with other airlines as well. The difference with E+ is that you get 5-6 inches more leg room. As far as booking E+ directly with no status, that's impossible online. UA guards these seats pretty good, so that they can extend them as perk to their elite customers. I wanted to get these seats for my wife on her W class ticket and it was impossible. Even at the gate, she was not given E+ because it was full.. On the other hand, if you buy most of the B fares, (BUA, BU3S, etc.) you get automatical upgrade to F, provided space available. I am sure if F is full, you will get an automatic upgrade to E+ as well. I agree, E- has the same pitch as WN. On the other hand, there is more to UA's superiority compared to WN. Ch.9, Recarro seats with headrests, free headphones, some entertainment etc. makes difference. My only caveat with UA's economy is, that they don't have the power jacks for laptops. Airplanes are great places to get some work done. So far only US has them on each seat on their Airbus in coach. BAHA Fan of E+ -----Original Message----- From: The Airline List [mailto:AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Michael C. Berch Sent: Friday, March 12, 2004 12:36 PM To: AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: Southwest Advice Baha (and others), Even though I have been (in the past) a UA Premier and Premier Exec, these days I'm just a commoner (although I might make Premier for next year). I don't really understand how Economy Plus works. It is *not* a class of service, in that I can't book it directly with positive space and a specific fare (like F or C). It's also not upgradable to, i.e., I book a standard Economy ticket (H, B, M, etc.) and purchase (with miles) an upgrade. How, exactly, is E+ assigned? If you are an elite level, do you get it automatically if there's space? I'm never able to choose a seat in E+ online, but counter and gate agents put me up there sometimes. I agree that UA E+ is better than WN, but I'd say that UA standard Economy and WN are about equal these days. WN was way better than UA Shuttle, though, which was an unpleasant madhouse that (at least at SFO) never ran on time and had some people with really bad attitudes at the counters and gates. -- Michael C. Berch mcb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx On Mar 12, 2004, at 7:01 AM, Bahadir Acuner wrote: > Jose, > I don't know how many times I have to repeat myself. :) > Yes, I am flying United and the client is reimbursing me, but if that > is not > happening I still fly United. > > I paid extra $30 / roundtrip to fly United SEA-SFO-LAS-LAX-SEA. Why? > Because > I like the product. I am so addicted to Ch.9 that the plane travel > becomes > really boring without it. I like Economy Plus because it is really > hard for > me to fit my big lard ass , as Jose claims, into regular seat. :)