So, I flew UAL 159 last night from ORD to SFO. I checked in before the 45-minute cut-off, but it the computer automatically assigned me seat 35A in the very last row of the plane when I had reserved 12A in E+. The ticket agents told me I'd have to ask at the gate to get it changed. It took almost half an hour to clear O'Hare security, and by the time I got to the gate, boarding was well under way. I asked the gate agent there if there was anything he could do and he literally responded with a sneer and, "It's a full flight; be grateful you have a seat."

Anyway, long story short, I spent a very uncomfortable 4 hours in E-basic and e-mailed my complaint to United this morning via their site.

Two questions: Has this ever happened to any of you before? Have your seat reservations been yanked before the cut-off? Also, I don't know that there's much United can do after the fact (I didn't even get the gate agent's name), but are they likely to offer me any sort of a peace offering? I didn't ask for one, but, you know, I'm not going to say no if they want to send me a coupon or something...