That is one of the many reasons why United is less premium than Delta and American. I am in E+ with a lot of employees and basic ticket people around me who are assigned seats at the last minute. As a 1K I get free food and drinks anyway, but UA should be rewarding their Gold and platinum members as well. I guess there is so little competition anymore in the U.S. airline market though and when there is a downturn the taxpayers bail airlines out. The exit row is often filled with space available travelers. It would cost them very little to even offer two free drinks a year like Southwest does. My October and early November flights on United are looking half empty. You are right though, United has little incentive to treat premiers well when travelers have few choices.