A little-known subscription to a BIG airline may have gone unnoticed, but it could save frequent travelers hundreds.
Perks include extra legroom and free upgrades for you and your traveling companions.
Frequent travelers can spread their wings – and legs – with United Economy Plus Membershipwhich offers extra legroom with seats in the front of the economy section.
Subscribers have unlimited access to Economy Plus seats with extra legroom on all United flights for one year.
Individual travelers can take advantage of the service for just US$599, which entitles them to one year of upgraded flights within the continental United States.
United also allows subscribers to add an extra companion for just $200 more or up to eight travel companions for $1,099 total (for just $122 per person).
United travelers can link their membership to their MileagePlus number, automatically upgrading their seats with each use.
Those who frequently travel with companions may find that the program gives them hundreds of savings on just one flight.
With a single travel companion, the subscription can start to pay for itself if you travel frequently.
The greatest chance of savings, however, is possible on larger trips.
Kendra Smith, writer for SFGaterealized how much he could save by looking for legroom upgrades for family vacations.
For her planned flight to the United Kingdom, she discovered that upgrading three people would cost $200 per person each way.
The single trip price would have been the same as United’s highest Economy Plus tier – the Global plan with up to eight companions for $1,299.
“Three people flying round trip, multiplied by $200 each way, costs $1,200, which is… you guessed it, very close to the price of a ‘family size’ Economy Plus global subscription: $1,299,” he wrote she.
After considering other vacations and occasional business trips with her husband, she signed up for the subscription.
Smith explained that after a terrible flying experience, she gave up flying with discomfort ever again.
Oh my God, I could really stretch my legs.
kendra smith
After her big family trip, she hopes to save hundreds of dollars on her other business and leisure flights.
Even though the plane was empty, a spokesperson assured him that his money would not be wasted.
When Smith worried that she had wasted money on her subscription by anticipating free flight upgrades, she soon discovered that wouldn’t be the case.
“The United spokesperson assured me that passengers are expected to remain in seats whose price matches what they paid for them – or pay the difference in price between the two seats,” she explained.
“It is not allowed to skip sections, or even lines, if the price is different.”
She doubled the purchase after trying it out on her flights home.
“Oh my God, I could actually stretch my legs. After all, Economy Plus also came with free baggage check-in, which freed us up to carry all our duty-free purchases and an extra bag of fragile souvenirs, putting them in the overhead compartment with little hassle,” she said.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story