Originally Posted by
helvetic
Not surprised. The fare you paid doesn't mean you get shittier service. United agents are pretty agnostic to the fare paid, you'll get the exact same rebooking and they likely won't even look as long as you're in any paid J.
As far as the OP, I'm sorry to head about this. If the delay had put me under MCT in LAX, I would've gone directly to the lounge or called the 1K line to get myself rebooked on the best possible option on any airline that has an interline agreement with UA. They'll do it, especially for an elite.
I've gotten myself rebooked on AS full fare from AA for a short-haul 45min delay. My friend got rebooked into full fare SQ J from QR J DPS-USA.
When I boarded it was still showing me as getting in over an hour before my flight left. Delays in getting going due to the overbooked situation, along with no gate after landing is what caused it to be so close. I also have no status on UA so that didn't help as well.