Originally Posted by
Kacee
UA actually deliberately exploits this "feature" by frequently opening only a single seat in the lowest available bucket. It can be extremely frustrating, as the fare jump can be substantial, particularly when going from say Z to D.
I mean, that's less UA "deliberately exploit[ing a] feature" and more UA RM being willing to sell one seat at the lowest fare bucket but not two.
Considering that UA allows off-PNR companions to share in most Premier benefits, it's not clear to me that UA is trying to be particularly punitive.