Gee, you make a
lowly 2P feel just like... well, like a
lowly 2P !
I must stick up for my fellow
lowly 2P travelers and point out that, not only do we have some familiarity with boarding a plane, but we're also among the more-deferential folk around and go out of our way to not be in the way.
As a
lowly 2P, I don't feel too comfortable trying to make a case for more benefits, but since your post seems to regard as
gate lice anything not in the preferred line, well...
In all seriousness, UA has a tough line to walk here. You want to make the UGS & 1K folk feel special because, well, because they are. They pay the bills, plain & simple. But at the same time, do you want to take the other status levels and rub their noses in it? Where do you draw the line? At least the
lowly 2P has "earned" his-or-her status (with very limited exception, as in being gifted from a UGS). Categorizing the
lowly 2P as just a subset of
gate lice... well, that hurts a bit. I know it shouldn't; I'm sure in the grand scheme of things, the
lowly 2P is much close to
gate lice than to a 1K. Nevertheless, I have to stick up for my fellow
lowly 2P brethren now & then, and this is one of those times.