Big thanks to everyone for all the tips and info! I feel better already!

I was a little worried about bad karma going into this flight because I had some difficulty with some of the offshore UA phone reps (gotta love outsourcing) who kept disconnecting me (I think the lines to India were bad at the time). But I sent an email to UA letting them know about the problem and they sent me an e-certificate good for $100 off my next flight! How cool is that!