Originally Posted by
PWMRamper
TICKETED Cabin is the key here. You didn't buy an F ticket, so you wouldn't get compensation for a downgrade.
Sorry - where in the customer commitment does it say "ticketed"?
Originally Posted by
fastair
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.
The key portion of this statement is "no extra charge" - if one upgraded using an instrument, there was an extra charge, therefore it's an IDB.