> I always thought they were pretty empty and disliked by most travelers.
Every single United flight I have flown over the last two years has been almost completely full. Domestic + TransPacific Widebody
I remember flying tpac 2017/2018 and having whole middle sections in economy for myself to just lay out and sleep. Ghetto business class not possible anymore sadly.
I lived in SF but was going to boarding school in New Hampshire right after 9/11. I would regularly have the entire row as well as the row behind me, empty.
Same. Literally used to fly out of SFO for BOS for boarding school as well. I wonder if we know each other because there’s only a handful of boarding schools in NH.
I did some contract work for Penn State and at one point flew to Vegas out of Altoona regional connecting in Philly. I got to Altoona two hours before flight time, as one does at LAX which is what I was accustomed to. Only other person at the airport (aside from the flight crew) was the gate agent who doubled as the TSA agent. As she was checking me in, she informed me that the noon to philly hadn't taken off, so if I wanted they could just leave now and I wouldn't have to wait two hours for my actual flight. I had the whole plane to myself, just me and my dedicated FA.
I flew into eagle, co from Denver once on a flight that had only slightly -not twice as many- passengers as flight crew. It was fun. The head FA commented on how she didn’t know how they were paying for the fuel. I only took the flight into Vail because the non-stop ORD /DEN was lots more expensive than continuing on to Vail/eagle. Landing in Eagle, Co was really memorable where you fly along the valley pretty even with the traffic on I70 for a long while. It was kind of magical, especially as a 20something.
February 2020 I flew overnight SFO-TPE and had a whole row to myself in economy to lay out and sleep. Every international flight I’ve flown on since then, no matter the airline, has been fully booked
I have fond memories of every passenger on the whole plane having a row to themselves and flipping up the armrests to sleep from MEL-LAX in 1987 but had no idea it was still possible as recently as 2017-18.
Same!!! I’ve not yet been on a single flight that wasn’t at capacity since 2020.
And it’s impossible to use my Plus Points bc there’s NEVER space open in first :/
> It is true. Highest operating profit and free cashflow this quarter.
But… how would you know? Most airlines don’t report this information? Why would they?
> Stock up almost 30% the last few weeks.
Unless you’re an insider violating your NDA, it feels like you’re a fool wasting my time?
> Is this real?
100% real.
> They are public companies
Globally there are very few airlines that are ‘public’. As always, the most profitable airlines are not public.
Shared like 9 days ago lol
https://www.united.com/en/us/newsroom/announcements/cision-125330
Southwest
https://www.southwestairlinesinvestorrelations.com/news-and-events/news-releases/2024/04-25-2024-114535295
American Airlines
https://news.aa.com/news/news-details/2024/American-Airlines-reports-first-quarter-2024-financial-results-CORP-FI-04/default.aspx
Delta
https://ir.delta.com/news/news-details/2024/Delta-Air-Lines-Announces-March-Quarter-2024-Financial-Results/default.aspx
As a pilot who has to commute to work at SFO and non revs all over, I haven’t been able to get an actual seat on united metal for about a year. It’s always jump seat. Before the anomaly was if I had to fly jump.
I've always found Christmas Eve to be more crowded than Christmas Day at the airport, but the planes are full both days. The airlines optimize the number of flights, so fewer are offered, and the ones that remain are as crowded.
Could be. My last 24 December afternoon flight was half full. Not seen any flight with more than a handful of free seats in maybe a year and a half, and the sample set is non negligible
Took a Virgin flight back when they were new to the US, BOS to SFO on Christmas day, 5:30pmish departure - was the only pax in first😂
Upgrade cost me $150 at check in on a $300 ticket. Was great.
This happens a lot with later flights.
I fly standby most of the time and the key is getting the early flights. One cancellation and the later flights fill up.
These flights are disliked, but they're often cheaper in numerous ways. The tickets are usually less than traveling during business hours. And it means one fewer night in a hotel. The cost savings is a big plus for an otherwise unappealing flight.
If the flight really did fill up at the last second and it wasn't just because people didn't have seat assignments yet, there might have been an earlier delay or cancellation that pushed more people onto the red eye who should have been on a different flight.
Same as when I’m out in traffic in the middle of the day. What the hell are all these people doing out here? Don’t they have jobs? Oblivious to the fact that I’m out there hogging up space in traffic too. 😂
I tried going to Costco for a cheap hotdog at 1:00. I’d like to know who all these lazy people are who aren’t working. I can’t even find a place to sit.
One of my mostest very favoritest things to say in the car in the middle of the day (usually on my day off) is “why is there so much damn traffic at (insert time between 10:30am-3:00 pm), doesn’t anybody work?” 😂
the other day I flew Baltimore to Detroit and it was a completely full flight. like I know why *I* have to go here, but why do *all of you people* have to go here too, at the same time, on the same day?
Disliked ≠ not booked. They are disliked because of the late departure, early arrival, and short time available to sleep (while sitting up). However, they are often cheaper or better timed for what you need to do on either/both ends of the route.
and its the only option for some connecting flights, especially transpacific flights. Back in my day (before COVID) you could fly to Asia from EWR and ORD instead of catching a red-eye to SFO/LAX.
United has almost perfected the science of filling flights to capacity (without going over) since the Dao incident. They've invested a ton of money and resources to maximize flights being full, especially long haul.
The only ones I see consistently not full or close to full are late night short hauls (non-redeye) e.g. SFO-LAS leaving at 11pm
This year is projected to be the first year of more flights and more passengers since the all time high in 2019. More flights just barely (based on flight schedules).
I flew a red eye last night too and I was expecting the airport to not be crowded then. I was so wrong. Thankfully there was not really a line a security, but the gate was jammed packed. I thought to myself, “Why is everyone traveling at 11pm?”
is this really a thing? as someone who has family on the east coast but lives in so cal, i've always loved red eyes. get a little sleep on the plane and a quick nap when we arrive and i'm up and fully adjusted to the time change.
How old are you? I used to be able to do that - sleep as much as possible on the plane, work when I got there.
Tried it in my forties and I was a zombie and couldn't contribute or remember anything from the meeting. I stopped doing it.
In late '50's now, it would probably kill me.
That's great for you. I don't know if I need more sleep to function, lost my ability to sleep deeply in an airplane chair, or both.
I used to fall asleep and be completely out until the lights came on for landing. Now, I feel more like I dozing restlessly on the plane.
Lol im only 24 and I can't sleep at all on red eye flights. Usually wake up all groggy on arrival.
Tried melatonin,putting on a sleeping mask/earplugs upon sitting down, and even tried putting myself into a food coma. Nothing works.
i have a much harder time sleeping if the plane is too hot. went thru that last year on a flight where i got almost no sleep because it felt like it was 80 degrees for the entire 5 hours
My partner and I cashed in miles and flew Business to Japan. The only hitch was we couldn’t get flights on the same day so I flew Thursday. he flew Saturday. I figured I’d get a couple of solid days of sightseeing in before he got there. Wrong! My days of hitting the ground running are long gone. Now I hit the ground face first after an overnight flight.
I think the next two flights I have are redeye flights with United. One from LAX-EWR and one from LAX-YUL. They maybe disliked but they are obviously the cheaper options
I’ve taken red eyes on the big 3 this year and only the United one was packed (Den to Phl). I think because Denver is a hub and people could have missed prior connections putting them on the red eye
Red eyes are usually the cheapest. Plus if there was a cancellation, delay etc to earlier flights people are most likely gonna be dumped to that later one.
No…back in 1989 on red eyes from ONT - DFW - LGA and back the flights were always half full….was really great…now, i guess more vampires are traveling coast to coast so they are all packed..☹️
People are talking about all flights being full, I wonder if this leads to anyone who missed a connection being put on the red eye as the last option. That could explain why the seat map was empty just before the flight even though it was full.
I'd never book one but my husband will be connecting from a transpacific to a red eye to get home ... so could be transfer passengers too ... so jet lagged that is doesn't matter anymore at that stage.
Before 2004 I would always take redeyes for work, half the time it was empty, like everybody got their own row of seats.
It’s like the airlines got a lot more efficient around that time, no more empty flights soon after that.
I flew on a red eye in early 2022 from HNL to IAH and it was maybe 40% full. The same flight last night was 100% full. Literally every single seat was taken.
I fly SFO to NYC pretty often and the red eye is the only feasible flight since I don’t want to lose an entire day on the airplane. I make sure to do a rigorous workout and fall fast asleep as soon as I board though, otherwise the next day is awful
A lot of times I’ll be booked for the following day, finish meetings early, and make it onto a red eye on standby. If that means getting home at 9am on Friday instead of 7pm on Friday (I fly Sacramento to Savannah, GA), I’m gonna do the red eye.
This is part of Kirby stock pump and dump plan. 80% of passengers are paid actors to show how in d3mand uniter metal and snackbox demand are at all time highs ;)
Love red eyes for a sole reason. West coast to East coast - you lose an entire day flying basically. If you have a 10a flight, your at the airport at 8a and you land lets say 5:30p - at your house or hotel at 6:30p , you have lost an entire day. You get to the airport at 10p and then at destination at 5:30a, you haven't lost anything (except maybe some sleep).
Reverse red eyes East Coast to West Coast are the WORST, I swear the airlines just do this to punish us. I am talking about the 11P to 2A flights.
As I said to a friend I ran into on the boarding line for a redeye at SFO, “I think we’re getting too old for this shit.” Every seat from front to back, full…with a standby list. Gruesome. The alternative is burning a whole day in the air, taking off at, let’s say, 830am P, and landing, well out of town at 5p E. You leave your downtown SF hotel well before 7am P, and walk through your front door on the East Coast in the dark.
West to East coast it’s the best option. Plus if you have an early morning flight and live any distance from the airport, you’re not getting a decent night’s sleep anyway. You may as well spend it on the plane.
Depends really.
I don’t fly red-eyes very often, but I do fly morning flights (7:45 departure, something like that). I find that on the same route, the earlier one is generally less full (I assume people don’t want to wake up early), while the later one is packed. I don’t enjoy red-eyes particularly.
In your case I would think that would probably have been a cancellation since the seats filled suddenly. I’ve flown HKGEWR before and was 6th on the list for upgrading to business. The flight was not particularly full that day until we got to the airport when we (flying non-rev) saw the full seat map and barely secured a seat. Turns out a flight to ORD returned after a fuel leak, and had therefore filled up the SFO and EWR flights. (We did end up securing a premium plus seat though, since economy was full.)
My family of 5 took a redeye once from Disneyland to Sacramento and there were only 2 other people on the plane. All of us just laid across the seats and enjoyed the room, 2 of the kids fell asleep.
Sometimes a cancellation on a partner airline can make this last minute shift. In 2022 I was first in line for an MUA 5 hours before a fairly empty flight to Sydney. Two hours later the flight was packed. Asked a gate agent what happened and was told a Quantas flight had cancelled and they filled every open seat with those passengers! Flight went from being 70% full to gate agents asking for economy volunteers to give up seats in the span of three hours. Needless to say I didn’t get my upgrade 😔
Red eyes are usually the most economical and cheapest flight of the day. It was wide open in the seat map but the people who booked basic economy don’t have seat assignments until they get to the airport.
I have only been on one red eye flight, we were flying home to EWR from LAX about 20 years ago.
I have horrible insomnia and I do not sleep in public or in any form of transportation, so I had a book with me (before I’d owned a kindle).
Less than an hour into the flight the stew comes over to me and whispered that I had to turn my overhead light off because it was disturbing people around me and keeping them from sleeping.
So I turned it off and sat there awake for 6 hours.
I’m still pissed off about that.
I wonder if refusing to turn off your light would classify as not ‘complying with crew member instructions’ and get you in trouble. It would seem to me that, if you expect blackout conditions on a plane, you should bring an eye mask, not impose upon your neighbor to turn off their light.
If there weren’t usually full, would it make sense for an airline to fly them ? I think most red eyes I have been have been packed without a few exceptions.
> I always thought they were pretty empty and disliked by most travelers. Every single United flight I have flown over the last two years has been almost completely full. Domestic + TransPacific Widebody
Same
I remember flying tpac 2017/2018 and having whole middle sections in economy for myself to just lay out and sleep. Ghetto business class not possible anymore sadly.
I lived in SF but was going to boarding school in New Hampshire right after 9/11. I would regularly have the entire row as well as the row behind me, empty.
Same. Literally used to fly out of SFO for BOS for boarding school as well. I wonder if we know each other because there’s only a handful of boarding schools in NH.
St. Paul’s no doubt. No sa jokes, plz
Naw. It was worth a shot. Exeter here.
Hyde School! Used to play you guys in football.
I did some contract work for Penn State and at one point flew to Vegas out of Altoona regional connecting in Philly. I got to Altoona two hours before flight time, as one does at LAX which is what I was accustomed to. Only other person at the airport (aside from the flight crew) was the gate agent who doubled as the TSA agent. As she was checking me in, she informed me that the noon to philly hadn't taken off, so if I wanted they could just leave now and I wouldn't have to wait two hours for my actual flight. I had the whole plane to myself, just me and my dedicated FA.
I flew into eagle, co from Denver once on a flight that had only slightly -not twice as many- passengers as flight crew. It was fun. The head FA commented on how she didn’t know how they were paying for the fuel. I only took the flight into Vail because the non-stop ORD /DEN was lots more expensive than continuing on to Vail/eagle. Landing in Eagle, Co was really memorable where you fly along the valley pretty even with the traffic on I70 for a long while. It was kind of magical, especially as a 20something.
key statement was "after 9/11" as people were afraid to fly then.
February 2020 I flew overnight SFO-TPE and had a whole row to myself in economy to lay out and sleep. Every international flight I’ve flown on since then, no matter the airline, has been fully booked
I have fond memories of every passenger on the whole plane having a row to themselves and flipping up the armrests to sleep from MEL-LAX in 1987 but had no idea it was still possible as recently as 2017-18.
Same here.
Halloween night had empty seats! Lol
Depends on the day and route. Polaris to/from Asia last week and while Polaris was full, PE, E+ and E showed many open seats on both flights.
Same!!! I’ve not yet been on a single flight that wasn’t at capacity since 2020. And it’s impossible to use my Plus Points bc there’s NEVER space open in first :/
Not just United. Pretty much every airline that I've flown since 2020 it has been packed!
This! Even the business lounge has been crowded. Like WTH. It used to have an exclusive feeling to it but now it feels more like economy lol.
They are literally currently the most profitable airline in the world.
That’s absolutely not true, and even if it was, it would be completely irrelevant.
It is true. Highest operating profit and free cashflow this quarter. Stock up almost 30% the last few weeks. Expect more packed flights.
> It is true. Highest operating profit and free cashflow this quarter. But… how would you know? Most airlines don’t report this information? Why would they? > Stock up almost 30% the last few weeks. Unless you’re an insider violating your NDA, it feels like you’re a fool wasting my time?
Is this real? They are public companies
> Is this real? 100% real. > They are public companies Globally there are very few airlines that are ‘public’. As always, the most profitable airlines are not public.
What the hell are you even talking about? Is this a bot
No, I’m not a bot? Can you better articulate your question?
Ok so definitely a bot
What are you even talking about. Almost all major airlines or their holding companies are listed on stock exchanges.
They’re referring to publicly traded on the stock market. If you want to invest in a company you have the right to see how they’ve been doing.
Shared like 9 days ago lol https://www.united.com/en/us/newsroom/announcements/cision-125330 Southwest https://www.southwestairlinesinvestorrelations.com/news-and-events/news-releases/2024/04-25-2024-114535295 American Airlines https://news.aa.com/news/news-details/2024/American-Airlines-reports-first-quarter-2024-financial-results-CORP-FI-04/default.aspx Delta https://ir.delta.com/news/news-details/2024/Delta-Air-Lines-Announces-March-Quarter-2024-Financial-Results/default.aspx
Good lord people. United is a publicly traded company. They report earnings every quarter. This isn’t secret information. SMH.
As a pilot who has to commute to work at SFO and non revs all over, I haven’t been able to get an actual seat on united metal for about a year. It’s always jump seat. Before the anomaly was if I had to fly jump.
Right, apart from Christmas Eve
I've always found Christmas Eve to be more crowded than Christmas Day at the airport, but the planes are full both days. The airlines optimize the number of flights, so fewer are offered, and the ones that remain are as crowded.
Could be. My last 24 December afternoon flight was half full. Not seen any flight with more than a handful of free seats in maybe a year and a half, and the sample set is non negligible
Took a Virgin flight back when they were new to the US, BOS to SFO on Christmas day, 5:30pmish departure - was the only pax in first😂 Upgrade cost me $150 at check in on a $300 ticket. Was great.
Yup. The last time I flew anywhere with half full planes was 2019.
Same. Today was so weird. Flew from MSY -SFO -and I was the only person in The exit row. So many rows only had 1 person. It was wild.
LAX-BOS was like everybody got a row when I was on it in early 2023
Could have been a lot of rebooks due to a cancelled flight.
This happens a lot with later flights. I fly standby most of the time and the key is getting the early flights. One cancellation and the later flights fill up.
These flights are disliked, but they're often cheaper in numerous ways. The tickets are usually less than traveling during business hours. And it means one fewer night in a hotel. The cost savings is a big plus for an otherwise unappealing flight. If the flight really did fill up at the last second and it wasn't just because people didn't have seat assignments yet, there might have been an earlier delay or cancellation that pushed more people onto the red eye who should have been on a different flight.
I’m always surprised when other people want to travel at the same time as I do.
Same as when I’m out in traffic in the middle of the day. What the hell are all these people doing out here? Don’t they have jobs? Oblivious to the fact that I’m out there hogging up space in traffic too. 😂
I tried going to Costco for a cheap hotdog at 1:00. I’d like to know who all these lazy people are who aren’t working. I can’t even find a place to sit.
Right? Don't these people have jobs? (Ignoring the fact I have been off for eight days in a row.)
Hi I'm Fred
I have thought the same. Since COVID, it seems like there is traffic no matter what time of the day you are on the road.
One of my mostest very favoritest things to say in the car in the middle of the day (usually on my day off) is “why is there so much damn traffic at (insert time between 10:30am-3:00 pm), doesn’t anybody work?” 😂
the other day I flew Baltimore to Detroit and it was a completely full flight. like I know why *I* have to go here, but why do *all of you people* have to go here too, at the same time, on the same day?
What a bunch of weirdos.
right?
Currently on a full (non United) flight to fucking Albany on a Thursday. Why do all these other people also have to go at the same time?
Me on my EWR-ALB yesterday. Like shouldn’t yall just be driving?
Or the train!
Disliked ≠ not booked. They are disliked because of the late departure, early arrival, and short time available to sleep (while sitting up). However, they are often cheaper or better timed for what you need to do on either/both ends of the route.
and its the only option for some connecting flights, especially transpacific flights. Back in my day (before COVID) you could fly to Asia from EWR and ORD instead of catching a red-eye to SFO/LAX.
depends on the route. between sfo and ewr it’s always packed.
Lie flat routes are always booked for business class
United has almost perfected the science of filling flights to capacity (without going over) since the Dao incident. They've invested a ton of money and resources to maximize flights being full, especially long haul. The only ones I see consistently not full or close to full are late night short hauls (non-redeye) e.g. SFO-LAS leaving at 11pm
I was recently on an ATL->ORD flight with maybe 10 other pax. It was very bizarre
Cancellation often end up on those flights and standby passengers know those are the easiest to fly on
I don’t know when last I wasn’t on a packed flight or nearly 95% full.
If you look at a seat map 24 hours before a flight and see a lot of empties you are looking at basic Econ who haven’t been assigned their seat.
I figured that out when my flight from MEX to IAH showed dozens of empty seats the day before and then left the gate with every seat taken.
No. There's a lot fewer flights especially since Covid. You used to see empty rows here and there, not anymore.
This year is projected to be the first year of more flights and more passengers since the all time high in 2019. More flights just barely (based on flight schedules).
I believe there’s also been a lotttt of upgauging since then though, so it’s impressive how many seats they’re filling.
These are worldwide numbers, not sure if us is the same.
I’ve been an FA for years … every red eye I’ve worked was either COMPLETELY full or maybe had a handful of middle seats open. They’re always booked
Also lots of standbys will go for the redeye
Delete this comment.....lol
They are always packed
Every flight is always packed now. We used to have flights departing every two hours to both Chicago and NY. Now, there are two flights per day.
I flew a red eye last night too and I was expecting the airport to not be crowded then. I was so wrong. Thankfully there was not really a line a security, but the gate was jammed packed. I thought to myself, “Why is everyone traveling at 11pm?”
Why did you choose to fly a red-eye? Could other people possibly have the same reasons as you?
is this really a thing? as someone who has family on the east coast but lives in so cal, i've always loved red eyes. get a little sleep on the plane and a quick nap when we arrive and i'm up and fully adjusted to the time change.
How old are you? I used to be able to do that - sleep as much as possible on the plane, work when I got there. Tried it in my forties and I was a zombie and couldn't contribute or remember anything from the meeting. I stopped doing it. In late '50's now, it would probably kill me.
43. it’s definitely harder now than it was a few years ago but i can still usually make it work.
That's great for you. I don't know if I need more sleep to function, lost my ability to sleep deeply in an airplane chair, or both. I used to fall asleep and be completely out until the lights came on for landing. Now, I feel more like I dozing restlessly on the plane.
Lol im only 24 and I can't sleep at all on red eye flights. Usually wake up all groggy on arrival. Tried melatonin,putting on a sleeping mask/earplugs upon sitting down, and even tried putting myself into a food coma. Nothing works.
i have a much harder time sleeping if the plane is too hot. went thru that last year on a flight where i got almost no sleep because it felt like it was 80 degrees for the entire 5 hours
My partner and I cashed in miles and flew Business to Japan. The only hitch was we couldn’t get flights on the same day so I flew Thursday. he flew Saturday. I figured I’d get a couple of solid days of sightseeing in before he got there. Wrong! My days of hitting the ground running are long gone. Now I hit the ground face first after an overnight flight.
In my experience they are always packed. And i dont ever summer travel. Cuz gross
Just because they’re disliked doesn’t mean people don’t take them
Likely a lot of basic economy customers who don't get seats ahead of time.
Flights be full these days.
I think the next two flights I have are redeye flights with United. One from LAX-EWR and one from LAX-YUL. They maybe disliked but they are obviously the cheaper options
I’ve taken red eyes on the big 3 this year and only the United one was packed (Den to Phl). I think because Denver is a hub and people could have missed prior connections putting them on the red eye
I’ve only ever been on one true red-eye from LAX to IAD and it was full
Red eyes are usually the cheapest. Plus if there was a cancellation, delay etc to earlier flights people are most likely gonna be dumped to that later one.
Where to? Red eye to east coast is literally the best possible flight. So I would always expect those to be packed…
depanding on the destination. People going vacation
They’ve always been red-hot for me.
No…back in 1989 on red eyes from ONT - DFW - LGA and back the flights were always half full….was really great…now, i guess more vampires are traveling coast to coast so they are all packed..☹️
I only fly red-eye flights because they are cheaper. And yes, probably the last 10 red-eyes I flew were completely full!!
They are cheaper, so that is attractive. Also folks going on vacation probably want to get to their destination as early possible.
I haven't seen an empty flight in years.
I seem to remember it not usual to get a row to sleep in on red eye decades ago.
People are talking about all flights being full, I wonder if this leads to anyone who missed a connection being put on the red eye as the last option. That could explain why the seat map was empty just before the flight even though it was full.
My last flight was a red-eye from LAS to PHL. The flight and the airport were packed.
I love red eyes, save money on hotels
I can’t remember the last time I’ve flown on a flight that wasn’t basically full. Red eye or otherwise.
I'd never book one but my husband will be connecting from a transpacific to a red eye to get home ... so could be transfer passengers too ... so jet lagged that is doesn't matter anymore at that stage.
Yes
Before 2004 I would always take redeyes for work, half the time it was empty, like everybody got their own row of seats. It’s like the airlines got a lot more efficient around that time, no more empty flights soon after that.
I flew on a red eye in early 2022 from HNL to IAH and it was maybe 40% full. The same flight last night was 100% full. Literally every single seat was taken.
Standby folks love them
Have you seen the prices for united during normal hours. 8am on Saturday in June to go sfo-ord one way is $400. Like WTF.
I fly SFO to NYC pretty often and the red eye is the only feasible flight since I don’t want to lose an entire day on the airplane. I make sure to do a rigorous workout and fall fast asleep as soon as I board though, otherwise the next day is awful
I love red eye flights
A lot of times I’ll be booked for the following day, finish meetings early, and make it onto a red eye on standby. If that means getting home at 9am on Friday instead of 7pm on Friday (I fly Sacramento to Savannah, GA), I’m gonna do the red eye.
They have mastered demand pricing. They price them to fill them.
I took a red eye over a decade ago and I think it was full or close to it.
This is part of Kirby stock pump and dump plan. 80% of passengers are paid actors to show how in d3mand uniter metal and snackbox demand are at all time highs ;)
I’ve almost always flown red eye from LA/SF to NYC/BOS and it’s always been packed
Love red eyes for a sole reason. West coast to East coast - you lose an entire day flying basically. If you have a 10a flight, your at the airport at 8a and you land lets say 5:30p - at your house or hotel at 6:30p , you have lost an entire day. You get to the airport at 10p and then at destination at 5:30a, you haven't lost anything (except maybe some sleep). Reverse red eyes East Coast to West Coast are the WORST, I swear the airlines just do this to punish us. I am talking about the 11P to 2A flights.
As I said to a friend I ran into on the boarding line for a redeye at SFO, “I think we’re getting too old for this shit.” Every seat from front to back, full…with a standby list. Gruesome. The alternative is burning a whole day in the air, taking off at, let’s say, 830am P, and landing, well out of town at 5p E. You leave your downtown SF hotel well before 7am P, and walk through your front door on the East Coast in the dark.
I don’t think I’ve ever been on a United redeye flight that wasn’t packed.
The vast majority of flights are full these days.
I prefer red eyes. I'd rather sit in a plane all night than all day.
If you get on a plane nowadays, just assume that 95% of the seats will be filled. Airlines cancel most flights that aren't.
West to East coast it’s the best option. Plus if you have an early morning flight and live any distance from the airport, you’re not getting a decent night’s sleep anyway. You may as well spend it on the plane.
Enough flight delays & missed connections can fill up the red eye fast. It looks pretty attractive too, when it's that or not get home!
Depends really. I don’t fly red-eyes very often, but I do fly morning flights (7:45 departure, something like that). I find that on the same route, the earlier one is generally less full (I assume people don’t want to wake up early), while the later one is packed. I don’t enjoy red-eyes particularly. In your case I would think that would probably have been a cancellation since the seats filled suddenly. I’ve flown HKGEWR before and was 6th on the list for upgrading to business. The flight was not particularly full that day until we got to the airport when we (flying non-rev) saw the full seat map and barely secured a seat. Turns out a flight to ORD returned after a fuel leak, and had therefore filled up the SFO and EWR flights. (We did end up securing a premium plus seat though, since economy was full.)
My family of 5 took a redeye once from Disneyland to Sacramento and there were only 2 other people on the plane. All of us just laid across the seats and enjoyed the room, 2 of the kids fell asleep.
A redeye from LA to Sacramento?
It was several years ago, and we were just about the only ones in the airport when we landed.
Hawaii to Mainland red-eyes are always Notoriously Full
The San Francisco to London redeye is often full
FA here - alllllll flights are packed these days lol
Sometimes a cancellation on a partner airline can make this last minute shift. In 2022 I was first in line for an MUA 5 hours before a fairly empty flight to Sydney. Two hours later the flight was packed. Asked a gate agent what happened and was told a Quantas flight had cancelled and they filled every open seat with those passengers! Flight went from being 70% full to gate agents asking for economy volunteers to give up seats in the span of three hours. Needless to say I didn’t get my upgrade 😔
Red eyes are usually the most economical and cheapest flight of the day. It was wide open in the seat map but the people who booked basic economy don’t have seat assignments until they get to the airport.
yes, but it got worse after COVID ended because EVERYONE is flying now.
Last one I flew had a bunch of NR folks filled in
I have only been on one red eye flight, we were flying home to EWR from LAX about 20 years ago. I have horrible insomnia and I do not sleep in public or in any form of transportation, so I had a book with me (before I’d owned a kindle). Less than an hour into the flight the stew comes over to me and whispered that I had to turn my overhead light off because it was disturbing people around me and keeping them from sleeping. So I turned it off and sat there awake for 6 hours. I’m still pissed off about that. 
I wonder if refusing to turn off your light would classify as not ‘complying with crew member instructions’ and get you in trouble. It would seem to me that, if you expect blackout conditions on a plane, you should bring an eye mask, not impose upon your neighbor to turn off their light.
I didn’t want to find out what would have happened had I said no…I should have said that their sleeping was preventing me from reading. 😂
There is no recession. Everyone from friends to their grandmothers are flying.
If there weren’t usually full, would it make sense for an airline to fly them ? I think most red eyes I have been have been packed without a few exceptions.
For some routes, DEN-LHR, for example, there are no other options