I looked around a bit to see similar topics but couldn’t find (maybe it is buried deep because no one really flew in the past few months !)
Basically we were flying as a family , my wife and I and 2 kids (lap infants ). Yes, I know we should have booked seats for everyone in premium or economy , but at this flight it didn’t make sense for various reasons. But both kids needs both parents since they are quite young ! But that didn’t stop united from catching us at the gate , 5 minutes before the gates closed , and telling us one of us is downgraded to premium. They mumbled something about a $1500 certificate , but didn’t say anything about us having a choice in the matter. My wife immediately replied she will take it , since the eldest only falls asleep with me and on a flat bed. They assured her she will get a bassinet seat and a good location (not middle ). Obviously they didn’t keep to that , and she spent the better of 10 hours trying to stop our 7 month old from spilling and grabbing our neighbors food/drinks. On my side was no picnic either , stand until she fell asleep she was crying to see her mom and baby sis. She also had a soaking diaper , which was bad news since all the diapers were with her mother in premium !
Basically was a horrible experience for both of us , and neither of us got our value from either seat.
We were willing to pay the premium for business , since it is worth it for us flying together. We put everything in one carry on , and we have both parents for both kids so we can switch off.
The question is - is there any options for me at this point ? We obviously will have a hard time flying United from hereon , but there’s no way $1500 is worth what we all (and our seat neighbors !) went through.
I also don’t know what I can do different going forward to avoid this - is there anything to be done to avoid, prevent, or get notified of earlier a downgrade ? This is my first time with this so am totally clueless.
If they would have told us 2 hours or even an hour earlier , it would have been a different story ! We could have rearranged the carry ons , negotiated for 2 premium instead (or economy !) , or declined and looked for a different flight ! But it was pushed on us at the last minute , with the warning that the gates will close shortly.
Thanks in advance !!