Flying United / Seat Choices

are you going to get out of the plane sooner? sure.
Is it going to make a difference? not at all.
You paying $21 and sitting 14 rows closer to the exit of the plane isn't going to be the reason you make or miss your connection.



Your connecting flight knows where you are coming from, and they'll wait a few minutes for you if they know you arrived late.
I had a flight, granted it was the last one of the night, from chicago to milwuakee, and they delayed the flight 20 minutes just for me to board the plane b/c my connecting flight was late arriving. I felt like a dick somewhat since i was the reason the flight was delayed, somewhat, but i basically ran from one end of O'hare to the other to get there as fast as i could. They shut the doors immediately after i boarded and got going.

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So if you have a late boarding group you might want to pay the extra to get a window seat and a higher boarding group.

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When will I know what group I’m in?

And ugh I hate window seats but I can deal for an hour

There's basic economy that doesn't get an assigned seat and doesn't get a carry on for most flights. They only get a laptop size bag.

40 min at IAH isn’t bad. I’ve been delayed and had 15-20 min layovers and made it at IAH.

$20 to move up 10 rows isn’t a bad price for piece of mind. I wouldn’t usually like a seat that doesn’t recline, but I could do that for an hour.

If you’re worried about it, I’d move up. But I wouldn’t think it’s absolutely necessary either.

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40 min at IAH isn’t bad

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You should be going in and out of C terminal, so 40 min isn't bad.

Now if you are into A/B terminal and then have to take the train over to C, you could be pushing it.

Looking at the last few days, it seems sometimes I would stay in C or E, and sometimes I would need to transfer between C/E. Looks like these are pretty close. It also appears that in recent days, these flights have been on time *knocks on wood*

However, the comments about overhead bin space concerned me. So I decided to not upgrade seats, but I did add premier access for the MSY - IAH segment, to make sure I was in Boarding Group 2 and could get an overhead bin. I think if I would have had to gate check my bag, that could have been bad news. I'm less worried about having to gate check my bag for IAH - PDX, and my return flight has a three hour layover, so I'm less worried on that one.

Thanks everyone for your help.