Originally Posted by
janetdoe
That seems completely wrong to me. My understanding is that you have already paid for premium cabin, and you should have first shot at it if there are empty F seats.
I think the AC employee was correct. I would write a note to customer service, asking what was the correct procedure. Don't approach from the angle of you want / expect compensation, you just want to understand what is the correct procedure in case this ever happens again, and perhaps to educate or retrain whoever wrote/interpreted that you were 'denied' a seat earlier, so you shouldn't get an upgrade.
I would personally appreciate it if you could post any response you get, since I have some voluntary downgrade segments on some upcoming award tickets.
I agree with most of your post. In the case of the OP's situation with a business class ticket and a voluntary downgrade on one of the segments due to no sAAver availability, my belief is that OP should be at the top of the PALL list at the airport (well, below those confirmed in F without a seat assignment), above upgraders from Y.
The "denied earlier" by Reservations is due to the lack of sAAver availability, which is fine, before the flight goes to airport control. However, once its in airport control, the above applies. If my belief is correct, I would definitely expect compensation, if the GA deviated from proper protocol and upgraded someone else instead of me.