United Will Soon Sell Annual Economy Plus And Baggage Subscriptions
Friday, May 3rd, 2013In the next few weeks United will start selling subscriptions for travel in Economy Plus. A subscription will be good for exactly 12 months.
Economy Plus puts you at the front of coach and it gives you several extra inches of legroom and generally makes coach travel far more pleasant. Plus the odds of getting an empty seat next to you and being able to seat your family together are much greater in Economy Plus.
I’m part of the United.com beta testing program and here is the pricing that I’m seeing:
-US48 subscription: $499
-Intra-Asia subscription: $499
-North and Central America subscription: $599
-Global subscription: $699
That’s for one traveler.
For $200 extra that traveler can bring one guest on the same reservation with them into Economy Plus. Or for $400 extra that traveler can bring up to 8 guests on the same reservation with them into Economy Plus.
Economy Plus for a Newark to Tel Aviv flight normally sells for $222 to $318 round-trip per person depending on how good the seat is.
A global plan that allow up to 9 people on the reservation to have access to Economy Plus would cost $1,099.
——————————————————————————————–
United will also sell baggage subscriptions. These are not a good deal as just having a United Explorer card gives you one free bag. Plus a United Club card (click on the club card tab when viewing the Explorer card) gives you 2 free bags. In addition those cards give other benefits like primary car rental insurance, expanded saver and last seat standard award availability, and for the Club card waived award close-in expedite fees and 50% bonus miles on all purchases.
-US48 subscription: $349 for 1 bag, $399 for 2 bags.
-Intra-Asia subscription: $399 for 2 bags.
-North and Central America subscription: $449 for 1 bag, $499 for 2 bags.
-Global subscription: $799 for 2 bags.
That’s for one traveler.
For $100 extra that traveler can allow one guest on the same reservation to have the same baggage privilege.
For reasons that I don’t understand here is the variable pricing for that traveler to allow up to 8 guests on the same reservation to have the same baggage privileges
-US48 subscription: $300
-Intra-Asia subscription: $300
-North and Central America subscription: $400
-Global subscription: $200
A global plan that allows up to 9 people on the reservation to check 2 free bags would cost $999.
Normally checking 2 bags from Newark to Tel Aviv would run $200 round-trip per person. Though that’s free with a Club card.
Again, this is part of the beta site, so these prices are definitely subject to change.













