Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
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Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
I just earned $600 in rewards via a Chase credit card, but I see they have given me an option of the equivalency (apparently) in Chase Ultimate Reward points.
I can't recall where I read it, but it seems I've heard the Ultimate Rewards program is a valuable one.
Anyone have experience with this? any tips for use?
Thank you, BFG
I can't recall where I read it, but it seems I've heard the Ultimate Rewards program is a valuable one.
Anyone have experience with this? any tips for use?
Thank you, BFG
How many retired people does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Only one, but he takes all day.
- jeffyscott
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Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
When I had a Chase Sapphire card I was able to transfer points at 1:1 to United and Southwest, for me this increased the value by over 50%. Not sure which other cards, if any, may allow these transfers. I could not transfer from Freedom card to airlines directly, but was able to transfer points from Chase Freedom to Sapphire and then transfer to the frequent flyer programs.
They also had a travel site which gave a 25% bonus, don't know if that was specific to Sapphire or was for any ultimate reward points. I never used that as sending them to the airlines was more valuable.
They also had a travel site which gave a 25% bonus, don't know if that was specific to Sapphire or was for any ultimate reward points. I never used that as sending them to the airlines was more valuable.
Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
Points are worth at least their equivalent amount in cash, since you can convert them to cash at any time.
Depending on which card you actually have, they can be worth more than that. Generally, those are the cards that charge an annual fee - sapphire preferred, ink plus, and ink bold. If you have those cards, paying for travel (hotel/airfare/etc) with your points will give you more value. In addition, as jeffyscott mentioned, you'd be able to transfer the points at 1:1 to a few airlines/hotel, and that can give even more value. For example, a $250 room at a chicago hyatt cost me $150 of points this summer..
Also, if you get one of these cards in the future, you'll be able to transfer the points to the new card and use them that way too
Depending on which card you actually have, they can be worth more than that. Generally, those are the cards that charge an annual fee - sapphire preferred, ink plus, and ink bold. If you have those cards, paying for travel (hotel/airfare/etc) with your points will give you more value. In addition, as jeffyscott mentioned, you'd be able to transfer the points at 1:1 to a few airlines/hotel, and that can give even more value. For example, a $250 room at a chicago hyatt cost me $150 of points this summer..
Also, if you get one of these cards in the future, you'll be able to transfer the points to the new card and use them that way too
Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
For maximum flexibility keep your points as UR until you want to fly. They transfer instantly to United or British Airways. I use BA points (avios) to fly domestic American airlines flights, which is a really good deal. United has good availability for flights to Europe for 60000 miles.
Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
It seems like I recently received a notification from chase that the rewards travel benefits (beyond of course using your cash rewards dollar for dollar for travel) were going away. I'd never used them for that and therefore ignored the the notice, but maybe someone else is aware of what if any changes are coming.
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Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
There are a few valuable options that i am aware of for Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
First, a transfer to Southwest. Their rewards program is straight forward and doesnt have the drawback of blackout that many other programs have. I believe the conversion is 70 points per dollar for "wanna get away" which means you would be looking at ~$850 in Southwest. Easy enough to figure out the availability, just look at the wanna get away price and do the math.
Second, a transfer to Hyatt. Hyatt has what is considered one of the most generous award redemption tables out there. I am staying in the Hyatt in Cleveland, which is running me about $150/night. Hyatt has a couple of options if i wanted to use points, i could do cash and points of 4,000 and $55.00/night. Or straight points for 8,000/night. You can do the math on whether either option is a good deal and I am sure my Cleveland hotel isnt in one of the "sweet spots" on the award calendar, but you get the idea. I know the two Park Hyatts in Argentina for instance are considered much better bargains. (This is all from memory, so I may be slightly off on the actual numbers, but its close enough).
Third, British Airways Avois. British Airways does "distance based award" and is in the alliance with American Airlines. The way that passengers get the most value for these flights is by booking short distance flights that are generally expensive. Think Miami to Turks and Caicos, Boston to Dublin, LA to Honolulu. I live in Fl and looked at Miami to Turks and I think it would have been 9k miles roundtrip.
The bottom line is that value is sometimes in the eye of the beholder. If you dont want to fuss without of blackouts, Southwest is probably best. If you are the type to really dig into it, you could find Hyatt or BA to be a great value. If you really want to travel down the rabbit hole, I think Korean Air is a partner with Delta (who generally isnt considered great when it comes to availability) and they have a new sweet spot on their chart for 25k miles roundtrip to Hawaii from US.
Just my 2 cents.
First, a transfer to Southwest. Their rewards program is straight forward and doesnt have the drawback of blackout that many other programs have. I believe the conversion is 70 points per dollar for "wanna get away" which means you would be looking at ~$850 in Southwest. Easy enough to figure out the availability, just look at the wanna get away price and do the math.
Second, a transfer to Hyatt. Hyatt has what is considered one of the most generous award redemption tables out there. I am staying in the Hyatt in Cleveland, which is running me about $150/night. Hyatt has a couple of options if i wanted to use points, i could do cash and points of 4,000 and $55.00/night. Or straight points for 8,000/night. You can do the math on whether either option is a good deal and I am sure my Cleveland hotel isnt in one of the "sweet spots" on the award calendar, but you get the idea. I know the two Park Hyatts in Argentina for instance are considered much better bargains. (This is all from memory, so I may be slightly off on the actual numbers, but its close enough).
Third, British Airways Avois. British Airways does "distance based award" and is in the alliance with American Airlines. The way that passengers get the most value for these flights is by booking short distance flights that are generally expensive. Think Miami to Turks and Caicos, Boston to Dublin, LA to Honolulu. I live in Fl and looked at Miami to Turks and I think it would have been 9k miles roundtrip.
The bottom line is that value is sometimes in the eye of the beholder. If you dont want to fuss without of blackouts, Southwest is probably best. If you are the type to really dig into it, you could find Hyatt or BA to be a great value. If you really want to travel down the rabbit hole, I think Korean Air is a partner with Delta (who generally isnt considered great when it comes to availability) and they have a new sweet spot on their chart for 25k miles roundtrip to Hawaii from US.
Just my 2 cents.
- neurosphere
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Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
I have only transferred Chase points to Amtrak. All points were usually transferred the same day, but one transfer took over 6 days, which was quite annoying. The terms of service say that transfers can take many days (up to 10?). So just be careful, and realize that there may be occasions when the points do not get to the airline or other partner immediately.bberris wrote:For maximum flexibility keep your points as UR until you want to fly. They transfer instantly to United or British Airways.
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Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
Chase Ultimate Rewards is one of the best programs out there. Get an Ink Plus, Ink Bold, Sapphire and Freedom card and, depending on current promos, you probably have close to 200K UR points or maybe more out the gate- 400K if your spouse does the same. RT flights to Europe with stopovers can be had for about 60K high season- RT to the Caribbean or S America sometimes as low as 30K RT. Add two Chase United cards (30K+50K=80K if you do it right), Chase Hyatt Card, Chase Ritz-Carlton or Marriott card and Chase Fairmont card and you have lots of nice hotels to stay in as well, once you have picked up on your air tickets (get the UR cards first). Do your shopping via the Ultimate Rewards mall and you often get 2-10x points per purchase, plus lots of other little perks with many of these cards like airport lounge access, etc. Unlike other cards that transfer points, like bberris said, they transfer instantly.bberris wrote:For maximum flexibility keep your points as UR until you want to fly. They transfer instantly to United or British Airways.
Points are most valuable when used for flights, especially expensive international flights. I don't generally use them for domestic flights.
Since you mentioned BA, British Airways cards currently offer 50K miles, but from time to time their promotions go up to 100K so it's best to hold off for a higher promotion if you can. Don't use them for BA flights- they have ridiculous surcharges. Use them for partner airline flights like AA for example, like bberris suggested.
Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
I believe the change I was referring to (besides the loss of the 10% bonus points for freedom cards), is that all options to redeem a fixed amount of points for airline travel will be discontinued.
I believe that some of the previous posts regarding transferring points from UR to other programs may be misleading. Only UR points in certain card programs have been able to be transferred. Freedom, and ordinary Ink cards, while eligible for UR, do not allow point transfers to most airline or hotel programs. They may allow transfer to another UR card that does allow such transfers, however. The cards I'm aware of that allow the transfers are fee cards, although possibly with opening bonuses and fee waivers.
I believe that some of the previous posts regarding transferring points from UR to other programs may be misleading. Only UR points in certain card programs have been able to be transferred. Freedom, and ordinary Ink cards, while eligible for UR, do not allow point transfers to most airline or hotel programs. They may allow transfer to another UR card that does allow such transfers, however. The cards I'm aware of that allow the transfers are fee cards, although possibly with opening bonuses and fee waivers.
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Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
Is this true? I did hear that Delta/Sky MIles planned to do it, but have the others followed suit?tibbitts wrote:I believe the change I was referring to (besides the loss of the 10% bonus points for freedom cards), is that all options to redeem a fixed amount of points for airline travel will be discontinued.
If so, when will this happen?
Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
I only have the Freedom and two non-Bold business Ink cards; two of the three qualify for the UR program. The notice I received was specifically for Freedom. I don't understand the question, since I believe this is a decision internal to UR and has nothing to do with external programs like Skymiles. AFAIK you could never directly transfer points from the Freedom or regular Ink flavors of the UR program to any airline program, however there may have been a way to purchase tickets directly from UR for a fixed number of points.protagonist wrote:Is this true? I did hear that Delta/Sky MIles planned to do it, but have the others followed suit?tibbitts wrote:I believe the change I was referring to (besides the loss of the 10% bonus points for freedom cards), is that all options to redeem a fixed amount of points for airline travel will be discontinued.
If so, when will this happen?
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Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
You can transfer UR points between any UR accounts in your name (or supposedly your spouse/partner's name) easily with no charge. Just go online to one of your accounts, click on Ultimate Rewards<Earn Faster<Combine Ultimate Rewards Points.tibbitts wrote:I only have the Freedom and two non-Bold business Ink cards; two of the three qualify for the UR program. The notice I received was specifically for Freedom. I don't understand the question, since I believe this is a decision internal to UR and has nothing to do with external programs like Skymiles. AFAIK you could never directly transfer points from the Freedom or regular Ink flavors of the UR program to any airline program, however there may have been a way to purchase tickets directly from UR for a fixed number of points.protagonist wrote:Is this true? I did hear that Delta/Sky MIles planned to do it, but have the others followed suit?tibbitts wrote:I believe the change I was referring to (besides the loss of the 10% bonus points for freedom cards), is that all options to redeem a fixed amount of points for airline travel will be discontinued.
If so, when will this happen?
I just tested it....I transferred all of my Ink and Freedom points to my Sapphire card. Quick, painless, worked no problem. The disclaimer:
"You can transfer Ultimate Rewards points to any of your eligible credit or debit cards with Ultimate Rewards.
However, you can only combine Ultimate Rewards points with eligible credit or debit cards belonging to you or your spouse/domestic partner. Transfers to anyone else may result in Chase suspending your participation in the Ultimate Rewards program and forfeiting any points you've earned. Chase will not make the transfer if any credit card or
checking accounts belonging to you or your transferee are in default at the time of the transfer."
You can also transfer points from UR to any of their participating programs (eg airlines) with a quick online transfer. I didn't have enough United miles last summer for a transcontinental flight. I just transferred my UR points directly to my United account via UR and received the miles quickly. It cost MUCH less miles for the flight if booked on United's site than if I booked the ticket via Chase's site. The cost of flights on Chase's site in general seemed quite inflated cf. airline sites.
Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
Yes, that's what I pointed out in my previous post. But many of us have Freedom and Ink cards that, as far as I know, don't allow transfer of their UR points directly to airline programs. You have to first transfer the points to a card that does have that option, and I don't know of any of the Chase cards with no fee (except possibly for the first year) that allow transfers directly to airline programs. If somebody knows of a no-fee Chase UR card that does allow direct transfers, that would be helpful.protagonist wrote:You can transfer UR points between any UR accounts in your name (or supposedly your spouse/partner's name) easily with no charge. Just go online to one of your accounts, click on Ultimate Rewards<Earn Faster<Combine Ultimate Rewards Points.tibbitts wrote:I only have the Freedom and two non-Bold business Ink cards; two of the three qualify for the UR program. The notice I received was specifically for Freedom. I don't understand the question, since I believe this is a decision internal to UR and has nothing to do with external programs like Skymiles. AFAIK you could never directly transfer points from the Freedom or regular Ink flavors of the UR program to any airline program, however there may have been a way to purchase tickets directly from UR for a fixed number of points.protagonist wrote:Is this true? I did hear that Delta/Sky MIles planned to do it, but have the others followed suit?tibbitts wrote:I believe the change I was referring to (besides the loss of the 10% bonus points for freedom cards), is that all options to redeem a fixed amount of points for airline travel will be discontinued.
If so, when will this happen?
I just tested it....I transferred all of my Ink and Freedom points to my Sapphire card. Quick, painless, worked no problem. The disclaimer:
"You can transfer Ultimate Rewards points to any of your eligible credit or debit cards with Ultimate Rewards.
However, you can only combine Ultimate Rewards points with eligible credit or debit cards belonging to you or your spouse/domestic partner. Transfers to anyone else may result in Chase suspending your participation in the Ultimate Rewards program and forfeiting any points you've earned. Chase will not make the transfer if any credit card or
checking accounts belonging to you or your transferee are in default at the time of the transfer."
You can also transfer points from UR to any of their participating programs (eg airlines) with a quick online transfer. I didn't have enough United miles last summer for a transcontinental flight. I just transferred my UR points directly to my United account via UR and received the miles quickly. It cost MUCH less miles for the flight if booked on United's site than if I booked the ticket via Chase's site. The cost of flights on Chase's site in general seemed quite inflated cf. airline sites.
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Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
Ah, you are probably right. I didn't realize that. I misread your previous post....sorry. Ink Plus and Ink Bold allow you to transfer directly with no transfer fee, as does Sapphire , but those three charge a maintenance fee after a year (under $100). I don't know if they would be willing to waive that fee to get you to keep the card....I'm sure the answer is on flyertalk forums. I think paying the annual fee to keep one of the cards active may be worth it, especially if you have many unused points, given the rate at which you can accumulate points and their relative value. I haven't had to make that decision yet.tibbitts wrote: Yes, that's what I pointed out in my previous post. But many of us have Freedom and Ink cards that, as far as I know, don't allow transfer of their UR points directly to airline programs. You have to first transfer the points to a card that does have that option, and I don't know of any of the Chase cards with no fee (except possibly for the first year) that allow transfers directly to airline programs. If somebody knows of a no-fee Chase UR card that does allow direct transfers, that would be helpful.
Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
You could also just cancel the annual fee card right before the year-mark where it gets assessed and apply for one of the other annual fee cards which still provides you with the ability to transfer points to airline/hotel programs. This way you can also continue to accumulate the introductory point bonuses by rotating which cards you have. I believe Chase just requires you to wait 2 years in between applications for the same card.
Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
"Chase Ultimate Rewards is one of the best programs out there"
Man, you got that right.
It's breathtaking the deals I've gotten out of the Rewards for hotels, rental cars, and airline tickets through Chase Sapphire Preferred/Ultimate Rewards.
And now the insurance coverage has been extended.
What's not to like, even if the 7% dividend at the end of the year ceases?
Lev
Man, you got that right.
It's breathtaking the deals I've gotten out of the Rewards for hotels, rental cars, and airline tickets through Chase Sapphire Preferred/Ultimate Rewards.
And now the insurance coverage has been extended.
What's not to like, even if the 7% dividend at the end of the year ceases?
Lev
- jeffyscott
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Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
I canceled sapphire before the fee was charged and am just letting non-fee card points accumulate rather than cash them in. At some point I can get sapphire again and transfer. I don't really need to be able to continuously transfer them.Bfwolf wrote:You could also just cancel the annual fee card right before the year-mark where it gets assessed and apply for one of the other annual fee cards which still provides you with the ability to transfer points to airline/hotel programs. This way you can also continue to accumulate the introductory point bonuses by rotating which cards you have. I believe Chase just requires you to wait 2 years in between applications for the same card.
Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
Transferred 80,000 UR points to United and bought a r/t economy ticket to Southeast Asia from Chicago for 80k miles + $75 in taxes. If I would have paid cash this flight would have costed well over $2,500. Saved quite a bit of money.
Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
Somebody would have had to pay me $2500 to get me to fly from chicago to southeast asia in economy class.crowd79 wrote:Transferred 80,000 UR points to United and bought a r/t economy ticket to Southeast Asia from Chicago for 80k miles + $75 in taxes. If I would have paid cash this flight would have costed well over $2,500. Saved quite a bit of money.
Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
Why? Not everyone wants to blow their hard earned miles on first or business class. I'd rather save my extra miles for other trips down the road. Main point is getting from point A to point B for metibbitts wrote:Somebody would have had to pay me $2500 to get me to fly from chicago to southeast asia in economy class.crowd79 wrote:Transferred 80,000 UR points to United and bought a r/t economy ticket to Southeast Asia from Chicago for 80k miles + $75 in taxes. If I would have paid cash this flight would have costed well over $2,500. Saved quite a bit of money.
Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
crowd79 wrote:Why? Not everyone wants to blow their hard earned miles on first or business class. I'd rather save my extra miles for other trips down the road. Main point is getting from point A to point B for metibbitts wrote:Somebody would have had to pay me $2500 to get me to fly from chicago to southeast asia in economy class.crowd79 wrote:Transferred 80,000 UR points to United and bought a r/t economy ticket to Southeast Asia from Chicago for 80k miles + $75 in taxes. If I would have paid cash this flight would have costed well over $2,500. Saved quite a bit of money.
I would add that some people in Asia ride standing-room only trains for 20 hours straight. Economy = no big deal + more trips.
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Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
MY understanding is that YMMV in terms of reapplying for Chase cards, but that could be inaccurate. If the 2 year thing works, then yes, you can churn the cards. I received the three UR cards that charge annual fees this year. I canceled two after receiving the miles. So I suppose I will have to keep my remaining (Sapphire) card at least another year and pay the fee. Not so bad, given its benefits. The 3 cards provided me with at least enough miles for 3 RT tickets to Europe in the summer through the promos alone. I got 70K for each Ink card, 40K for the Sapphire card, and (I forget) 5K or 10K extra for adding my daughter to one of the cards. Plus VIP lounge access. I think the promos are a little less generous now, but they keep changing.Bfwolf wrote:You could also just cancel the annual fee card right before the year-mark where it gets assessed and apply for one of the other annual fee cards which still provides you with the ability to transfer points to airline/hotel programs. This way you can also continue to accumulate the introductory point bonuses by rotating which cards you have. I believe Chase just requires you to wait 2 years in between applications for the same card.
Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
I'm guessing you missed the "Obese Airline Passenger" thread from the last couple of days (now locked.)yukon50 wrote:crowd79 wrote:Why? Not everyone wants to blow their hard earned miles on first or business class. I'd rather save my extra miles for other trips down the road. Main point is getting from point A to point B for metibbitts wrote:Somebody would have had to pay me $2500 to get me to fly from chicago to southeast asia in economy class.crowd79 wrote:Transferred 80,000 UR points to United and bought a r/t economy ticket to Southeast Asia from Chicago for 80k miles + $75 in taxes. If I would have paid cash this flight would have costed well over $2,500. Saved quite a bit of money.
I would add that some people in Asia ride standing-room only trains for 20 hours straight. Economy = no big deal + more trips.
It's not even possible to sit in a coach class seat without your knees hitting the seat in front of you - and that's with the seat in front fully upright. It's worse when that seat is reclined. It doesn't do any good to save money/miles on the ticket when you only get a couple of weeks of vacation a year and need to spend almost all of that time recovering from physically uncomfortable travel.
I'll have to take your word for it that people stand up for 20 consecutive hours on a train. People ride in airplane landing gear compartments, too, and some survive. That doesn't mean most of us are going to do it.
- jeffyscott
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Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
I've never had a problem with legroom in coach, of course I have seen some tall people who are cramped. I'm not tall but am about 5'11" and wear 34" inseam pants. I have flown on SW, SAS, Lufthansa, United, AirTran, Frontier, and Delta.tibbitts wrote:It's not even possible to sit in a coach class seat without your knees hitting the seat in front of you - and that's with the seat in front fully upright. It's worse when that seat is reclined.
We have had problems with people who are too wide a couple of times. On SW, we strategically choose two seats next to someone who is already seated and fits in their seat. On our two international flights we've been able to get a row with 2 seats. Easy on Airbus with most rows being 2-4-2 and on a 747 there were a few rows in back with 2 seats on each side.
Of course, I'd be willing to pay something for a seat that lays horizontally so I could sleep on a long international flight, but I would not pay anywhere near the going rate. It'd be worth maybe an extra $100 to me and that's never gonna happen for that price.
Airplanes are just buses with wings to us.
Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
We've only used the program to book flights but here's a subtle thing about the program that's worth mentioning I think ; if you book a flight yourself online through the program, then 25,000 points is worth $250 towards a ticket , a penny a point , just like any other purchase ; but if you call Chase and have them book the flight then 25,000 points is worth $335 or 1.34 pennies a point .
Now they may have changed the program so that bookings online get the $335 for 25,000 points but it's something to be aware of - now we always search online for the flights we want and then call Chase to do the booking .
Now they may have changed the program so that bookings online get the $335 for 25,000 points but it's something to be aware of - now we always search online for the flights we want and then call Chase to do the booking .
- jeffyscott
- Posts: 13486
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Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
Looks like that 25,000 point thing ends in about 3 weeks:
http://millionmilesecrets.com/2014/06/1 ... ing-trick/
http://millionmilesecrets.com/2014/06/1 ... ing-trick/
Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
Thanks JS , we called Chase customer service last night and they said that it's now $250/25000 pts. but this morning we contacted Chase travel and they didn't have any details about a change , I want to dig through the website and see if they've updated the program agreement .jeffyscott wrote:Looks like that 25,000 point thing ends in about 3 weeks:
http://millionmilesecrets.com/2014/06/1 ... ing-trick/
With the competition among credit card companies I'm sure Chase is taking a hard look at these programs ; we're going to wait a bit to see if more information comes out , we like Chase but this may be a good time to see what other credit card companies offer .
Last edited by ubermax on Sat Oct 04, 2014 11:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
I wear the same size pants, now that I'm fatter and have no waist to hold them up, but have a completely different experience. I absolutely can't sit facing forward with my knees hitting even a fully upright seat in front of me. Same with all the buses I've been on lately; I have no choice but to intrude on someone else's space. Even in almost all cars, the seats are too short and/or won't move back far enough and/or won't move back far enough without also moving down too low for comfort. On flights I try for an aisle seat - I always get bumped by the food carts and occasionally trip people accidentally (luckily there's so little room it's nearly impossible to fall down, so no harm done), but that still beats the window seat I'll be stuck in tomorrow. Ugh.jeffyscott wrote:I've never had a problem with legroom in coach, of course I have seen some tall people who are cramped. I'm not tall but am about 5'11" and wear 34" inseam pants. I have flown on SW, SAS, Lufthansa, United, AirTran, Frontier, and Delta.tibbitts wrote:It's not even possible to sit in a coach class seat without your knees hitting the seat in front of you - and that's with the seat in front fully upright. It's worse when that seat is reclined.
We have had problems with people who are too wide a couple of times. On SW, we strategically choose two seats next to someone who is already seated and fits in their seat. On our two international flights we've been able to get a row with 2 seats. Easy on Airbus with most rows being 2-4-2 and on a 747 there were a few rows in back with 2 seats on each side.
Of course, I'd be willing to pay something for a seat that lays horizontally so I could sleep on a long international flight, but I would not pay anywhere near the going rate. It'd be worth maybe an extra $100 to me and that's never gonna happen for that price.
Airplanes are just buses with wings to us.