For years I held a grudge against United Airlines because of an incident related to traveling with my then-preschool son. You have to give me credit because it’s not easy avoiding United when you live in Chicago. I mostly managed it, and then realized that none of the other airlines were any better.

A couple of weeks ago, I had to fly to Albany, NY, on somewhat short notice to a funeral. I didn’t want my now-postschool son to sit by himself during this trying time (once a mama bear, always a mama bear), so I paid for better seats so we could sit together and not be in the last row of the plane. Fine. My choice.

On the way back, we were sitting at the airport when we heard our flight called 45 minutes early. We hustled over to the gate to be told that the crew was thinking that maybe we could leave early since there were only nine people on the flight. Nine! So, I paid an extra $90 so that my son and I could sit together on an empty plane. I wasn’t pleased.

I emailed United customer service and got the very helpful reply that they would get back to me in 5-7 days. I will let you know what, if any, resolution there is.

Oh, and btw, we didn’t leave early. We just ended up sitting on the runway for an extra 45 minutes.