Originally Posted by
UA-NYC
Let's look at the CO scenario...
Random full fare F pax (non-CO/UA elite) has to take a last minute transcon on CO. He/she sees the choices are chicken or beef - having just had a steak dinner last night, is thus in the mood for chicken.
Sitting in row 5, he/she sees the FA approach taking meal orders. He/she asks for the chicken; the CO FA frowns and said "I'm sorry, we're out of those now, would you like the beef?" Full fare passenger thinks to his/herself, "I paid $2K for this ticket, and I can't even get my first meal choice? I bet a lot of the people in front of me are on cheap fares and somehow upgraded - and I see a lot of chicken on trays up there."
You think that high-value, profitable flyer is likely to book CO again? UA rightly protects against this scenario.
UA actually doesn't protect against that scenario - last time I flew on full fare business in PS I ended up getting my last meal choice. No comment from the flight attendant, just a frown and "here" when putting the meal down. Like I said above, I like the idea of the UA system, but UA doesn't have high enough employee standards to make it work well for everyone.