Originally Posted by Often1

"Someone should tell...."

Give me a break. "Someone" is an employee of a UA doing what his employer directs him to do. His employer is doing what its Board on behalf of its Shareholders is doing, e.g., maximize profits.

As Tblack15 and skgolf91 make clear, the same people who want free UG's ahead of paying customers presumably don't work for free unless there is a business case for it. The business case for free UG's is that if nobody will pay for the seat, it costs little to have it occupied, so might as well pat someone on the head and that might as well be an elite.