pinniped

For a long, long time, I've thought (and posted here...somewhere) about this exact concept. I think it's a great idea - a legitimate enhancement that can make every stakeholder happy if it is executed well.

The "if it is executed well" bit is the part that concerns me. But you gotta start somewhere... The good news is that United (and other airlines) will start hearing feedback pretty quickly. If a bunch of F or E+ volunteers are ending up in E- seats, it'll eventually make the news. People will be paying attention, especially now that these kinds of news stories generate click rates way beyond what an avgeek story would have done 5 years ago. Thus, the product will have to get better over time.

I'd expect that 5 years from now, every airline app in your pocket will have some variant of this baked into it.