I disagree. The vast majority of FT'ers here are applauding an action that didn't happen to them. The difference is that the captain acted in the favor of a bona fide customers of UA. If he upgraded friends, family, etc. it would be different. Not everything is black and white, and it seems that this thread shows that some are more comfortable with the variations of grey that exist in this world.

Back when CO was pulling out of its dive, Gordon Bethune described a similar philosophy in his book From Worst to First. "Every company probably ought to burn their employee manual now and then - it is merely a repository of rules that fit certain situations, and those rules eventually spread far beyond their applicability and become calcified into dumb rote." As a CO elite at the time, the culture shift was noticeable as was the improved performance. (as an aside, I think it is time for CO to burn the books again).

In my opinion, UA should perform more of these no to low cost kindnesses and not continue in its "dumb rote" course. In my evaluation, it looks like the following:

Forgone revenue: Zero, the F seats were on the plane anyway and nobody was looking to purchase them or upgrade since that would have happened outside.

Future Expectation: Zero as these were 1Ps, and as a previous poster mentioned, they know that this type of upgrade is an oddity rather than the rule.

Disgruntled other pax: Limited as this thread indicates. If I had redeemed certs, miles, etc. I would not be unhappy that these folks were moved up gratis. I had the benefit of the bargain: a FC seat before the door was closing, and that is worth a lot to me.

Goodwill: Priceless.

I guess that we'll just disagree. But as a 1K, my first and continuing reaction to this would have been positive.

CWPFLY