Ah I am not really thinking they owe me anything, as we can see, the only thing I really could have done is spend the previous night at EWR (instead of the next!)
[MENTION=180243]eng3[/MENTION] : I can usually check in online, definitely on domestic itineraries it's never a problem. Now international, I usually fly connecting flights on multiple airlines, and I'm used to there being all sorts of problems checking in. It worked last time on ARN-MUC-SFO-LAX but that was a surprise. First time in years. I have several odd documents (green card holder, my name isn't an exact match between various documents (in ways that are hard to fix)), and maybe checking my passport against St. Lucia visa requirements... ? No idea, really. I get a different story every time there is a problem and I ask, and it always seems a bit made up on the spot.

I am very spoiled by my home airports (BUR / LAX). Things are always super smooth for me there---especially since COVID! I usually avoid EWR like the plague but going to UVF, it was the only reasonable choice.

In any case, UA did send me an email that said that their staffing shortage itself was "weather related" and it seems my credit card insurance is willing to take that as a "weather-related delay". I'd rather not have missed Christmas but ah well. Actually, come to think of it, oddly United hasn't spelled out (like you have here) that they have no responsibility for providing adequate check-in staffing. But I suspected that was the background based on the response that I did get, and yeah, the travel credit and miles were because I'm a whiny 1K and not because I am actually entitled to anything.

A little odd to me though that the airline can require that we passengers do something specific, not provide a reasonable level of support to get it done, and then say it's on us. I don't think that would, ahem, fly in most areas of contract law. What if they had had zero check-in staff? Would everyone flying that day be SOL?