United joins seats shuffle

The growing practice of charging passengers in the US extra to reserve Economy seats near the front of an aircraft, already adopted by American and Delta, has now spread to United as carriers scramble to boost revenue in face of rising oil prices.

The so-called "preferred" seats have no extra legroom or any of the other benefits available in Premium Economy but are seen as saleable as they mean passengers do not have to walk so far down the aisle and can be among the first off the aircraft.

United, whch also increased baggage charges last week, said it would implement the change later this year but did not provide specific details such as the cost it intends charging. The seats for sale will be just behind its Economy Plus rows.

The airline added some United corporate clients would be able to reserve the “preferred”  seats free as part of a new corporate perks programme just announced.

This also applies to certain elite-level members of the United frequent-flier programme, but other passengers will have to pay a fee to reserve the seats unless they are available for free at check-in.

www.united.com

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