Still loyal to United?

Dear United

I wanted to let you know of a disappointing experience I had recently with United.

We made it to our gate in Chicago early on Friday the 6th and went to the gate to see if there were earlier flights home to San Francisco. We were told at the gate there were seats but it would be a $50 charge per person. I was shocked as I have flown many times in the past year and never heard of or experienced this charge. We were told our ticket was not "full fare" and therefore had to be charged.

I am a Premier member, have loyalty to United, and paid over $800/each for our tickets four days before we left on Tuesday the 3rd. I was currently being wait-listed for first class as well on my ticketed flight. I understand that you have policies, however, I would recommend that you are consistent with your message and do not look for this $50 from your loyal customers. As a gate standby passenger, it is no cost to you to put us on a earlier flight, yet a huge benefit to the customer.

As a result, this bad and confusing experience has made me less loyal and less excited about flying United in the future. I ask that you consider the messages you send to your loyal customers and trade that off with the benefit of the fees potentially receieved. Your marketing budget may want to offset some of these desired fees as the bad press is not worth the cost, in my opinion.

Thanks for listening,

Brian Mason