by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 8:30 PM ET, Tue April 11, 2023
United Airlines is scrapping its “surprise-and-delight” upgrades program on Boeing 767-3000ER and 767-400ER planes as of August.
Travelers who have enjoyed the opportunity to move from extra-legroom Economy Plus to Premium Plus aboard the planes will now have to pay for that experience, The Points Guy reported. That payment can be in the form of cash, redeemed miles, or by applying PlusPoints.
Up until now, flyers have been able to select premium economy seats for the same cost as Economy Plus within a few days of a flight’s scheduled departure.
PHOTO: United Economy Plus seats. (photo courtesy of United Airlines)
Currently, only a small number of United Airlines 767s actually have the upgraded Premium Plus purple seats. The carrier is working on retrofitting its entire 767 fleet with the seats. Until that process is complete, United is marketing the small number of Premium Plus seats available on these planes as Economy Plus.
The airline had initially planned to rollout the Premium Plus cabins on a more relaxed schedule. But there’s been a growing demand for upgraded seats, according to The Points Guy. As a result, completion of the retrofit has been fast forwarded and is now expected to be wrapped up by August.
Once finished, the airline will start charging for all Premium Plus seats. In addition, the “surprise-and-delight” program was never actually meant to be permanent.
United first introduced Premium Plus in 2019. The purple seats that make-up the Premium Plus cabins are already available on all of United’s long-haul wide body fleet of aircraft.
United also recently announced that amid increased demand to fly overseas this summer, it would be expanding its flight schedule to
international destinations by 25 percent over last year. The airline will fly to 114 international cities during the
busy travel season, including about two dozen new routes.
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