Complaint: Check-in / Boarding Seat changes - extortion
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Old Jul 4, 2015, 11:02 PM
A320FAN A320FAN is offline
Airline Employee (NOT OFFICIAL REP)
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cjglhm View Post
In January 2015, I booked return flights for my wife and 2 daughters from Denver to London Heathrow (travel July 2015), and took care to make sure they had assigned seats together. For the return flight (LHR-IAD) I just found out that their seats were changed, and we were not informed - my family are now sitting in 3 different places. I called United, and in addition to being quite rude, I was told that they could sit my family together again, but it would cost about $400. This sounds like extortion: they split up the family on the plane, and say they can put them together again, but it will cost $400. I know this is unethical, but I can't believe this is allowed.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Ho did you handle it? Did you have success? Their flight is still 2 weeks away so I'd like to try to do something...Thanks.
Sounds like there was a change of equipment (AkA: A/C swap) in which aircraft would operate the flight. A Continental built A/C maybe configured differently then the United configured A/C, and the seats that they gave you, were the ones they had left, and if you want to upgrade to Economy plus or a higher cabin class, you have to pay the fee.