Ditch the Middle Seat with This United App Feature

Sightseers pounce on window seats, while others prefer the accessibility of an aisle seat, and passengers with long legs will angle for the bulkhead or emergency exit row. But we’ve all opened up an airline’s seat map and found only cramped middle seats available. A new seat-switching feature on United‘s mobile app means you may not have to settle for the dreaded middle seat.

Initially introduced for select flights in March and now rolled out across United’s schedule, the seat-switching feature can automatically reassign you to a seat type of your preference if it becomes available before you depart.

Photo: Courtesy of United

During booking, passengers select their preferred seating type, such as window, aisle, bulkhead, and emergency exit row. If a seat becomes available in the same class of service before departure, the traveler will be reassigned to it, free of charge.

“We’ll automatically assign [the available seat] to you and update you with your new seat info,” United states on its website.

The reassignment window runs until 12 hours before take-off.

Impact of the Seat-Switching Feature

The seat-switching feature has spared thousands of United passengers flights in the middle seat. The airline said in a statement that the feature has already been a huge success.

Photo: Courtesy of United

The airline revealed that during its busy July, 40 percent of participating travelers successfully reallocated a seat type of their choosing. A total of 18,000 passengers were moved.

The feature isn’t just creating more satisfied customers. It’s also lessening the burden on gate agents, who often field many requests to move travelers to more favorable seats minutes before departure.

Seat availability notifications aren’t new. Savvy travelers have recently turned to third-party programs such as ExpertFlyer’s Seat Alerts and TripIt Seat Tracker to monitor airplane seat maps.

These services alert users via text or email when a seat of their choosing becomes available. However, they must act to claim the seat before another finicky traveler does.

United’s Cutting-Edge App Features

United is the first major airline to offer in-house service. It’s just another incentive to download United’s app, which has frequently been lauded as the best in the industry and boasts more than 100 million monthly sessions.

Photo: Courtesy of United Airlines

Last year, the airline unveiled dozens of new cutting-edge mobile features. The star is Live Activities, an Apple widget, appearing on the iPhone lock screen or, when unlocked, as a “Dynamic Island.” It displays real-time information about the traveler’s flight, including their boarding pass, gate, seat number, and count-down clock to departure.

United said sixty-five million travelers used Live Activities during their 2023 journeys.

Boost in Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty

When cancellations or delays disrupt their trip, United travelers can turn to their app to manage rebooking, with a feature on their home screen allowing them to choose their rebooking options, track their bags, and request meal and hotel vouchers.

Photo: Courtesy of United Airlines

The airline also automatically rebooks passengers and informs them of changes through the app. During the spring quarter, nearly half (47 percent) of disrupted travelers were rebooked automatically or through self-service options on the app, sparing thousands of long waits at ticket desks or on hold with customer service agents.

United is also using generative AI to provide travelers with explanations for disruption, including linking within the app to live weather radar maps.

The new app features boosted customer satisfaction and loyalty scores at United to post-pandemic highs at the end of 2023. The airline now says that two-thirds of its travelers manage their trips through the mobile app.