# Would you pay to upgrade to United Economy Plus?



## DebBrown (Jun 17, 2010)

We are flying United home from Honolulu to Chicago next spring.  It is a long flight and unfortunately I only had enough miles for coach seats.  For $69 each, we can upgrade to Economy Plus.  Would you do it?

Normally, I don't like to pay for extras but that comes out to about $8.50/hour/person.  Plus it is an overnight flight.

Deb


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## gregloucks (Jun 17, 2010)

I definitley would, especially since you are flying all the way to ORD and on a redeye. We always go E+ to and from HI (from LAX). Assuming you are on either a 767 or 777, you can book a two seat side of the plane and have plenty of room to stretch out and sleep. It may not be the lie-flat seats like first class to and from Europe, but the extra legroom can really make a difference when you are trying to get some sleep. Plus, the overhead bins are less crowded in E+ (less passenger density). When choosing your seats, try going to Seatguru.com to maximize the benefit of your E+ purchase.


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## falmouth3 (Jun 17, 2010)

It's 5 extra inches of leg room.  If that's something you'd like, I'd go for it.  Especially since seats will be reclined so people can sleep.

Sue


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## Luanne (Jun 17, 2010)

For me it depends on the size of the plane and where my original seats are.


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## rickandcindy23 (Jun 17, 2010)

I am only 5'5" tall, so more legroom isn't something I need.  Rick is 6'1/2" and enjoys the extra legroom.  I tell him it's going to cost both of us for the extra leg room, just so we can sit together.  So I make sure I have the personal item under the seat in front of me, so he can stretch out a bit.  It works fine for him, but he does get a bit uncomfortable on the long flights.  

I bought him one of the First Class Sleepers on Amazon for $30.  Doesn't give him more leg room, but it does provide him a cushier seat for his skinny, bony body.  I have lots of padding, so I find an airline seat pretty comfortable.  I really like just sitting there, reading a book or playing scrabble on my computer.  I am a pretty easy-going flyer.


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## mlsmn (Jun 17, 2010)

Yes  do it
flew 4 united flights recently with E+
well worth the $


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## travelguy (Jun 18, 2010)

Absolutely worth the money for all the reasons stated above.  You'll forget about the extra cost within the first 30 minutes of flying when you realize how important those extras are on long flights.

I wish all airlines had this type of upgrade!


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## DebBrown (Jun 18, 2010)

Thanks for all your comments.  I know for sure that if I asked DH, he'd say to go for it.  I tend to be frugal but this one makes sense.

Deb


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## linsj (Jun 18, 2010)

Deb, this is a no-brainer. I'm surprised the option is that inexpensive. Before I had enough status to always fly in exit rows and then first, Economy + saved my legs, even on short flights--and kept me loyal to UA. I got stuck in coach on Swiss Air for one leg of a trip last year and thought I'd die from the lack of leg room. But then I'm 5' 8" with long legs, so the thought of sitting in coach for 8 hours is enough to make me want to give up flying.


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## Ken555 (Jun 18, 2010)

I always upgrade to + when I can on long flights. Definitely worth the extra $$.


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## dougp26364 (Jun 18, 2010)

DebBrown said:


> We are flying United home from Honolulu to Chicago next spring.  It is a long flight and unfortunately I only had enough miles for coach seats.  For $69 each, we can upgrade to Economy Plus.  Would you do it?
> 
> Normally, I don't like to pay for extras but that comes out to about $8.50/hour/person.  Plus it is an overnight flight.
> 
> Deb



In a heart beat. You can't beat that extra leg room for comfort on a long flight.


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## Jimster (Jun 18, 2010)

*economy plus*

Again- a no brainer   While I usually fly in C for a trip this long, if I didn't i would certainly do economy plus.  As a 1K this is a freebee.  It is also free to anyone with premier status or above-it makes a damm good case for flyer loyalty so you can have it all the time.
The other thing is that with any luck at all you may get more space overall.  Economy plus is the place where there may be empty seats.  In regular economy, it is usually totally full but not so in economy +.  In part this is because UA elites that are already in E+ may get upgraded and thereby leave empty seats in E+.  The UA elites would not be in regular economy so that would not happen there.


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## Luanne (Jun 18, 2010)

Would you pay a total of $400+ for two, to upgrade to Economy Plus on a non-stop roundtrip from the West coast to London?


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## DebBrown (Jun 18, 2010)

Luanne said:


> Would you pay a total of $400+ for two, to upgrade to Economy Plus on a non-stop roundtrip from the West coast to London?



Well, if $69 is a good deal for one way HNL-ORD per person, I'd say $200 RT to London is also a deal.

Thanks again, everyone, for the advice.  AA is my airline of choice and I don't have status on UA.  I was surprised the E+ was even offered on an award ticket.  We would have gone for business class tickets if I hadn't already blown all my miles on a family trip to Europe.  

Deb


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## LisaRex (Jul 1, 2010)

Luanne said:


> Would you pay a total of $400+ for two, to upgrade to Economy Plus on a non-stop roundtrip from the West coast to London?



The annual pass is $425.  I'd buy that just in case I flew again within the next year.  It's good for you plus one companion.

As to the OP, I'd pay $70 just so that my husband would be comfortable.  If it's a hardship, then I'd skip it on the way out and upgrade on the way back when you're both trying to get a little sleep.


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## travelguy (Jul 2, 2010)

LisaRex said:


> The annual pass is $425.  I'd buy that just in case I flew again within the next year.  It's good for you plus one companion.



IIRC - The annual UA EP pass can also be bought with 40K FF miles.


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