They literally could have offered someone a hundred thousand bucks or even multiples of that for the seat and got off cheaply looking at the
PR disaster this has become.
Hindsight is such a wonderful thing and I'm sure United are going to regret this for a long time to come, what with litigation and people voting with their feet choosing other carriers.
But, I have a simple question. They must have known at the gate about the numbers, why didn't they sort this out before the passengers boarded?