More Room Throughout Part of Coach on Some Airlines

United will finally offer economy plus seating on all of its aircraft by May. Three types of aircraft haven’t offered the extra legroom:

  • United’s 767-200 aircraft (flying primarily New York to Los Angeles and San Francisco)

  • Their 737s which used to fly as United Shuttle (the worst thing is that it’s become a bit unpredictable which routes they’d turn up on)

  • Several 777s, especially those flying transpacific routes

The 767s will be retired, replaced by 757s flying in a three class configuration.

United offers the additional legroom at the front of the coach cabins, and reserves those seats until day of departure for full fare passengers and elite frequent flyers. American offers more legroom throughout the planes but has taken away the perk from a quarter of its fleet. Meanwhile, JetBlue has removed a row of seats from its aircraft and now offers additional legroom behind row 10 (a quirk resulting from placement of the emergency exits). Delta’s Song, which offers a bit of extra legroom, has halted expansion for now.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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