Quick Tip: Free “First Class” Seats For United Elites On Certain Routes

Complimentary upgrades to first class on domestic flights have largely become a thing of the past for road warriors. Gone are the days where I would clear the upgrade list on virtually every flight I booked. Economy class is nowhere near as pleasant as it used to be, so the occasional upgrade to first class can be a real treat on longer flights. Due to some recent scheduling quirks, I’ve found some instances where elite members can select a free upgrade to United’s Premium Plus seating.  These are essentially domestic first class seats, though I’d argue they’re better than the legacy United first class seats and even the newest version they’ve rolled out.

This is only on certain routes.  IAD-DEN (Washington, Dulles to Denver) and back are two common routes I’ve found this on. And, it seems to be on domestic routes feature the 787-9.  You can tell by looking at the seat map.  You’re looking for a gap in the Economy Plus seating section.  Planes equipped with the Premium Plus product on domestic routes where United is not selling that cabin as Premium Plus will show in a 2-3-2 configuration with a gap in between the sections of 2 seats.

Those first three rows with the gap in the seating are Premium Plus seats.  Elite members can select these seats for free at the appropriate time depending on your status level (for Gold members and above, that’s at time of booking).

I’ve also seen this on some routes that are effectively transcons (IAD-SFO) but not sold as a premium transcon route like EWR-LAX.  On those routes, you’ll likely see a seat map more like this one (thanks to my buddy Mike for the screenshot):

You can’t select a free Premium Plus seat on flights where the cabins are laid out in this fashion.  United sells these seats for cash or PlusPoints on a number of international routes as well as some transcontinental routes.  It’s a much more comfortable seat than coach, similar to a domestic first class seat.

The Final Two Pennies

My best guess as to why these seats aren’t being sold as Premium Plus on some routes is that United can’t guarantee the plane type on the route.  We discussed this on the podcast last week, and it’s the only reason that I can think of which makes sense.  I thought United had refurbished enough planes with Premium Plus that this wasn’t an issue any longer. At any rate, it’s a good little trick to take advantage of on certain routes.  I’d much rather be in that seat versus coach!

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