by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:55 AM ET, Tue December 11, 2018
United Airlines revealed on its website that passengers will be charged extra when booking "preferred seats" in economy class starting Friday, December 14.
According to CNBC.com, the standard economy seats located directly behind the Economy Plus rows will not offer more legroom or other perks, but they will cost more due to their proximity to the front of the plane.
The new seating choices will be found on planes throughout United's network.
While United did not reveal how much extra the preferred seats will cost, other airlines with similar seating arraignments such as American and Delta forced customers to endure price increases on the same routes.
The changes from United follow an airline industry trend of offering economy customers perks that will increase the cost of their ticket, including early boarding, lounge access and additional legroom.
United also announced Tuesday it would be relaunching basic economy service on several trans-Atlantic routes. The international flights will allow passengers one carry-on bag, which is different from the carrier's domestic basic economy class policies.
In addition, United will let travelers apply basic economy tickets toward elite status in the airline's MileagePlus frequent flyer program starting Tuesday. Basic economy passengers will earn 50 percent of the qualifying miles and half of a qualifying segment for each flight, while the price of the ticket will be fully applied.
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