[evvo]

I purchased a ticket on United's website and was told it was $103.60. So far so good. Then the website shows me a map of available seats and I click on one. Pay for the ticket, all is well...

Then my credit card statement showed that there was an addition $69 charge!!!
It turned out that seat was an "Economy Plus" and has an extra charge.
When I called customer service to complain I was told, sorry but you're out of luck.

As far as I'm concerned this is fraud. I don't recall ever approving an additional fee.
Why would they show me a seat that isn't available for the fare I'd agreed to?
Maybe I should file a complaint with my credit card.

[jimworcs]

If this is true and the website does not provide any warning, I would challenge this. It is highly misleading.

[evvo]

There may have been some fine print somewhere but nothing obvious like a popup saying "This seat selection will increase your fare".
And suspiciously it showed up as two charges, one for the ticket and one for the "Economy Plus"... as if they expect they might have to cancel just that part

[PHXFlyer]

E-Plus is an add-on and not part of the fare. I would call back and insist on speaking to a supervisor. If your within 24 hours of booking the reservation they should be able to re-seat you further back and refund the E-Plus charge. If it sounds as if you are speaking to someone at an off-shore call center insist that they transfer you to someone stateside as I've had mixed experiences with getting someone im Mumbai who actually knows what they are doing.

I will mention that E-Plus seating is very nice especially on longer flights. It also lets you select exit row seating if you are qualified which has even more room.

[karenl]

Was surprised that this happened to me as well. I feel this is very deceptive and there is no notification that you will pay more for sitting in these seats - happened when the site asked me to choose a seat I believe but United can't tell me how someone selects Economy plus seating. Spent 3 hours on the phone and was told by all the "customer loyalty service agents" that I needed a lesson on how to order on the internet. Very insulting. Besides logging a complaint to my visa card, the BBB is there another place? I would think the FTC or FCC would want to know about deceptive internet sales practices by a major airline. Since my flights were on the smalller planes I did not even get the use of the extra leg room since there wasn't any... and the worse part of one flight is for a few hours I had all the stewardesses in front of me sitting reading magazines and complaining about their hours and the work conditions. I wonder what they paid to sit in Economy plus, read magazines, chat and drink coffee? I moved back a few rows so I didn't have to listen to them.

[Corbel]

i just booked 2 tickets on ual.com, it clearly shows on the seating chart a shaded light blue area that says "economy plus" and just for fun i clicked on those seats to see what would happen, and in the next screen for each flight it shows how much it costs for those seats, then you have the option of selecting new seats or keeping those seats. it may be possible that you didn't see this part??

[karenl]

Wasn't there so they could have changed the site since Jan 1st. Other sites like NWA, Delta, Sun Country has always been clear (and shaded a different color) when booking special seats but this time no warning appeared for me until I saw the charge on my visa - and deceptive since they don't provide all the charges at once or I would have gone back and changed this. Maybe this is an issue when booking with frequent flier miles.

[PHXFlyer]

Originally Posted by karenl

Was surprised that this happened to me as well. I feel this is very deceptive and there is no notification that you will pay more for sitting in these seats - happened when the site asked me to choose a seat I believe but United can't tell me how someone selects Economy plus seating. Spent 3 hours on the phone and was told by all the "customer loyalty service agents" that I needed a lesson on how to order on the internet. Very insulting. Besides logging a complaint to my visa card, the BBB is there another place? I would think the FTC or FCC would want to know about deceptive internet sales practices by a major airline. Since my flights were on the smalller planes I did not even get the use of the extra leg room since there wasn't any... and the worse part of one flight is for a few hours I had all the stewardesses in front of me sitting reading magazines and complaining about their hours and the work conditions. I wonder what they paid to sit in Economy plus, read magazines, chat and drink coffee? I moved back a few rows so I didn't have to listen to them.

Originally Posted by Corbel

i just booked 2 tickets on ual.com, it clearly shows on the seating chart a shaded light blue area that says "economy plus" and just for fun i clicked on those seats to see what would happen, and in the next screen for each flight it shows how much it costs for those seats, then you have the option of selecting new seats or keeping those seats. it may be possible that you didn't see this part??

I just did a "test booking" on United.com and when it came to choosing the seats I received the following screen:

Flights Search Select Review Options Purchase


Economy Plus
Choose more legroom.
Starting at $14

United Economy Plus seating offers you up to five extra inches of legroom on all domestic and international United flights, as well as explusSM flights from United Express®.

Such a small price to bring such happiness to your legs Economy Plus seating terms and conditions Frequently asked questions





From - To Date Total PHX - IAD Tue, Feb 17 2009 49.00 USD IAD - EWR Tue, Feb 17 2009
EWR - IAD Sat, Feb 21 2009
IAD - PHX Sat, Feb 21 2009 49.00 USD Option Price 98.00 USD
Select seats
















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Karenl, you claim that you were never given an option but I don't think this is the case. Also the claim that you were on smaller aircraft which has no E-Plus seating but was charged doesn't hold water either. Clearly in this itinerary the flights from IAD to EWR and EWR to IAD are on regional aircraft without E-Plus and the option is not selectable. There are some regional aircraft that do have E-Plus seating. Might you have been on one of those? Aditionally, your choice to move back once seated does not entitle you to a refund of what you paid for E-Plus as it was your choice to move.

I think we've de-bunked the "United charged me for E-Plus without my knowledge" rumor here. If you aren't paying attention or aren't internet savvy that's not the airline's fault. Next time you book a trip let your 12 year old kid book it for you! If you don't have a kid borrow the neighbors or just book over the telephone. The fee you pay to book with an agent is much less than paying for E-Plus when you did not intend to do so.