Originally Posted by
bmvaughn
However, as I recall, the wording is "confirmed"... so one would have to argue about what that would mean. If I'm not "confirmed" into F when I get an upgrade, when would one ever be confirmed under an upgrade. I would push this point and wouldn't let UA play fast-and-loose with language.
FWIW, I looked it up on the ua.com site:
This would fall under the case of an overbooked flight - they had simply just overbooked the flight in F. So yes, IDB does apply in this case according to UA.
You are extrapolating from a section that does not address the actual question. The downgrade in your quote refers to a person with a higher cabin ticket being seated in a lower cabin (as PWMramper said,) not someone with a Y ticket being seated in a Y cabin. The appropriate section is here
http://content.united.com/ual/asset/COC31Dec10.pdf
pages 38-39:
"EXCEPTION 2: THE PASSENGER WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE FOR COMPENSATION IF HE/SHE IS OFFERED ACCOMMODATIONS OR IS SEATED IN A SECTION OF THE AIRCRAFT OTHER THAN THAT SPECIFIED ON THE PASSENGER'S TICKET AT NO EXTRA CHARGE. IF A PASSENGER IS SEATED IN A SECTION FOR WHICH A LOWER FARE APPLIES, THE PASSENGER SHALL BE ENTITLED TO AN APPROPRIATE REFUND.
That is from the denied boarding section. Note the "passenger's ticket" part as well. A Y class ticket and an NF reservation does not represent a different ticket, the ticket is still Y.