Airlines are always looking for ways to segment their consumer base, in order to get as much revenue from each passenger as possible. Over the years, we’ve seen just about all major US airlines introduce extra legroom economy seating, intended both as a reward for elite member, and as an ancillary revenue opportunity.
In this post I wanted to take a closer look at Main Cabin Extra, which American Airlines’ extra legroom economy seating. I’ve written about similar products offered by other airlines, including Alaska Premium Class, Delta Comfort+, JetBlue Even More Space, and United Economy Plus.
In this post:
American Airlines Main Cabin Extra offers extra legroom
American Main Cabin Extra offers dedicated seating with three to six inches of extra legroom compared to standard economy seating. Main Cabin Extra is generally located in the first several rows of economy, and also at exit rows.
American offers Main Cabin Extra throughout its mainline and regional fleet. The only aircraft not to feature Main Cabin Extra are 50-seat regional jets, which make up only a small percentage of American’s fleet.
With airlines having continued to squeeze more and more seats onto planes over the years, the legroom in “standard” economy has become much more restrictive. As a result, Main Cabin Extra at least provides a more acceptable level of legroom, so that your knees aren’t pushed into the seat back in front of you.
American Main Cabin Extra includes alcohol & early boarding
In addition to extra legroom, American Main Cabin Extra offers two other primary benefits. The biggest perk is that you receive free alcohol, including beer, wine, and spirits. This is offered on flights with a full beverage service. There’s no official limit to how many drinks you can have over the course of the flight, aside from the crew’s discretion (in other words, if you’re showing signs of being inebriated).
American Main Cabin Extra also comes with Group 5 boarding. That’s after the priority boarding groups, and means you can board along with those who have an eligible co-branded American credit card.
Who gets American Main Cabin Extra for free
While American elite members receive unlimited complimentary first class upgrades on a space available basis on many routes, the reality is that those upgrades often don’t clear. One nice consolation prize is that elite members are also eligible for upgrades to Main Cabin Extra.
The following elite members can select Main Cabin Extra seats at the time of booking for themselves and up to eight companions traveling on the same reservation:
- American AAdvantage Concierge Key, Executive Platinum, Platinum Pro, and Platinum members
- oneworld Emerald and oneworld Sapphire members through Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar Airways, or Japan Airlines
On top of that, the following elite members can select Main Cabin Extra seats up to 24 hours before departure, when checking in, for themselves and up to eight companions traveling on the same reservation:
- American AAdvantage Gold members
- oneworld Ruby members through Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar Airways, or Japan Airlines
On most routes, you should have no issues finding a decent Main Cabin Extra seat at the time of booking. Also keep in mind that American blocks certain seats in advance, so there’s a trick to snagging those close to departure.
The cost to purchase American Main Cabin Extra
For those who don’t have access to complimentary Main Cabin Extra seating on American, it’s possible to purchase these seats any time from when you ticket your reservation until departure. The cost is dynamic, and varies based on demand. So you won’t find consistent pricing in any particular market, but rather it could change based on the day of the week, the time of day, etc.
American states that Main Cabin Extra starts at $20, though you’ll find pricing to be all over the place. For example, pulling up a random Miami to Tampa flight, I see Main Cabin Extra costing anywhere from $26 to $28.
Meanwhile pulling up a random Dallas to Seoul Incheon flight, I see Main Cabin Extra costing anywhere from $142 to $183.
Not only does pricing vary between flights, but Main Cabin Extra pricing also differs depending on the specific seat you select. Sometimes I can’t really make sense of the pricing differential between seats — I understand middle seats costing less than aisle or window seats, but otherwise the logic seems random.
Is American Main Cabin Extra worth it?
Obviously if you’re eligible for complimentary upgrades to Main Cabin Extra, you should absolutely take advantage of that, since it’s not costing you anything extra. But what about for those who have to pay for upgrades? I’d say it depends.
Regular economy seats are so tight nowadays, so for many people, an upgrade to Main Cabin Extra isn’t about some amazing luxury, but rather it’s about having a basic level of comfort while flying. If you’re at all tall and are in a financial situation to do so, I definitely think there’s merit to upgrading to Main Cabin Extra. If you’d otherwise buy a drink or two, the cost is also much easier to justify.
The only thing I’d recommend keeping in mind is that American also often sells first class upgrades for cash at a reasonable cost, so keep an eye out on that as well. In some cases it might not be that much more than a Main Cabin Extra seat, but it offers a lot more seats.
Bottom line
American Main Cabin Extra offers three to six extra inches of legroom, and it can certainly help make an economy flight more tolerable, given the limited pitch in “regular” economy. Fortunately most elite members are eligible for complimentary upgrades to these seats, but some might find value in paying to assign these seats, if they don’t otherwise have access to them.
What has your experience been with American Main Cabin Extra?
According to airline seating websites, only Jet Blue offers acceptable leg space in their economy section (32" pitch, which is down from 34" when they started). Delta is at 31" and American and United are at 30", although I could swear that a transatllantic flight from Boston to Paris and from Amsterdam to Boston on Delta had less than 31" pitch as my knees were jammed into the seatback in front of me and I...
According to airline seating websites, only Jet Blue offers acceptable leg space in their economy section (32" pitch, which is down from 34" when they started). Delta is at 31" and American and United are at 30", although I could swear that a transatllantic flight from Boston to Paris and from Amsterdam to Boston on Delta had less than 31" pitch as my knees were jammed into the seatback in front of me and I had difficulty walking straight after deboarding as my knees and hips were killing me from having sat at an angle with one leg out in the aisle and that foot turned inward so it wouldn't get stepped on or run ove by a cart. Absolute disgrace to have seats that tight on an overnight international flight. These people have no shame.
I bought a Main Cabin ticket from Ft. Lauderdale to Philadelphia. My receipt documented one extra free bag. No one at Ft. Lauderdale check in ever heard of a Main Cabin ticket. I was forced to pay $40 to check my bag. I have been calling and writing to AA for six weeks. I have not been able to get my $40 refunded.
Short females still will complain about lack of space. Men taller than six feet always have to pay extra for this space, with no lobby like the body positive lobby to help out
Would have been better than 1st Class on two recent DFW MSP, MSP DFW flights. $800 per flight for potato chips and ginger ale. 3 min short of required two hours to get a lunch. Top it off , both directions, screaming babies in next seat with coach fare parent upgrades! Awful.
Thanks American ! No more!
Am I misreading this article? It seems to imply that one is eligible for complimentary upgrade to Main Cabin Extra on AA with oneWorld Sapphire status. I'm oneWorld Sapphire (through Alaska Airlines, which according to the article is okay), and just booked a reservation this month, but it's making me pay for those seats.
It *does* let me choose Preferred in Economy. Does it matter that I used my Alaska Airlines FF number and not...
Am I misreading this article? It seems to imply that one is eligible for complimentary upgrade to Main Cabin Extra on AA with oneWorld Sapphire status. I'm oneWorld Sapphire (through Alaska Airlines, which according to the article is okay), and just booked a reservation this month, but it's making me pay for those seats.
It *does* let me choose Preferred in Economy. Does it matter that I used my Alaska Airlines FF number and not my AA FF number? Or maybe they just can't figure out that I'm oneWorld Sapphire?
Never mind - I confirmed on their website (https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/experience/seats/main-cabin-extra.jsp) my reading of the article is correct. It looks like they're just recognizing my status. So just waiting a few hours for my callback from customer support to clear that up....
I recently upgraded to MCE on a fairly short flight for cash. I ordered 2 wines when service came around. As far as I can tell you can only order when the FA's do beverage service, there was no way for addtional order. This wasn't an issue for me since it was a short flight, but on a longer flight I would like to have them check once in a while.
This is not true. One can order alcoholic beverage after the first service. I prefer to go to the galley and pick one. I have been enjoying extra alcoholic beverage since MCE option started. This is possible with domestic and international.
Surprisingly the price seems reasonable given the length time of the flight.
I actually prefer the exit row over First Class, which has more pitch than F - plus the seat in front can't recline. AA has reduced the seat pitch for FC from what it was before the USAir merger.
How did you watch a movie if the seat in front is far ahead of you? Was the food tray that pulls out big enough?
Forgot the best part, Ben: premium economy being classified as MCE for domestic widebody flights
I got a couple MCE seats on a BOS-MIA flight a couple years ago on a 777. And I believe there were just 2 seats together in the row I selected so no 3rd person!
Do OW Emerald Elites (via AA) get preferred seats on British Airways? By preferred seats I mean the extra legroom seats rather than just being able to select seats for free at time of booking. I know that OW Emerald Elites are able to select seats for free on BA at time of booking but are those seats just regular seats or are they "special" equivalent to MCE seats on AA. TIA!
Typo in the penultimate paragraph here, assume you meant "a lot more space" rather than "a lot more seats": "In some cases it might not be that much more than a Main Cabin Extra seat, but it offers a lot more seats."
As someone who is 6’5” and doesn’t fly enough for status, it really irks me that a bare minimum of simply being able to sit in the seat (let alone comfortably) is an extra charge. All airlines are guilty of this, not just AA so I’m not picking on them, they just happen to be the subject of this post. It’s not like I’m taking the space out of the seat beside me so the...
As someone who is 6’5” and doesn’t fly enough for status, it really irks me that a bare minimum of simply being able to sit in the seat (let alone comfortably) is an extra charge. All airlines are guilty of this, not just AA so I’m not picking on them, they just happen to be the subject of this post. It’s not like I’m taking the space out of the seat beside me so the extra charge is hardly justifiable when I can’t help the length of my legs.
In a perfect world a certain amount of seats would be blocked off from booking until a tall person presents themselves at the gate for complimentary assignment (let’s put aside exit row requirements for the moment and suppose those are otherwise met). But I guess that means less revenue so some bean counter at HQ might get a smaller bonus this quarter, and we can’t have that!!
If you fly AA a good amount of the time, it could be worth looking into whether you could qualify for Gold via non-flying means -- AA makes it far easier to do that than other carriers (shopping portals, SimplyMiles, AA Hotels, etc.). As someone who's tall too, having AA status so I am never stuck in a regular size seat has made flying so much more pleasant (but I'm in an AA-dominant city; if...
If you fly AA a good amount of the time, it could be worth looking into whether you could qualify for Gold via non-flying means -- AA makes it far easier to do that than other carriers (shopping portals, SimplyMiles, AA Hotels, etc.). As someone who's tall too, having AA status so I am never stuck in a regular size seat has made flying so much more pleasant (but I'm in an AA-dominant city; if you aren't, having the status and therefore the MCE benefit becomes a more complicated calculation).
Flying Transatlantic on one of the AA 777-200s you WANT to get out of standard Main Cabin seats! They call it 30" pitch, but it's more like 28". 11 hours from LHR to LAX is painful!
They actually call it 31-32” in the main cabin seats of the 777-200er, because it is. But I agree. 11 hours in the back isn’t fun on any plane.
Have absolutely found value in the years I've had status and received complimentary MCE and definitely have forked over the cash for it in years I didn't have status and had flights with block time longer than two hours and found it a worthwhile use of my discretionary income. Don't forget it also means you get off the plane sooner!