Originally Posted by SafariMatt

I would have been just as mad as you. I find myself in this situation occasionally as I fly last-minute on RJs with high load factors. However, after like the 4th or 5th time this happened, I began to rationalize it for my own sanity in the following way: I pay a lot for the flexibility of being able to book last minute. I get what I paid for - a seat. It isn't the E+ seat I'm entitled to by being a 1P (soon to be 1K!), but it got me where I was trying to go.

As an aside, I have observed that if you check in right at T-24, some previously unavailable E+ seats are usually available, presumably due to UDU.