Your collective argument -- that the ever-so-spacious seats up front should be denied to all but Premiere members -- is hogwash, simply because the seats in back are akin to Chinese water torture. United owes ALL its passengers enough legroom that they can sit with their legs straight forward, without the seat in front pressed against their knees. I am 6'3" and it is physically impossible -- and that's before the passenger in front tilts their seat back.

I endured a short, 40-minute flight recently aboard the Shuttle. The two passengers on either side of me had a good-natured laugh about my predicament in a middle seat. I would not be laughing if it was a 2-1/2 hour flight to Seattle.

Except for this flight, I have otherwise been able to get gate agents to assign me an exit row, but if it happens again and there's an open seat in the vaunted Premiere section, there's going to be a scene!