I was in 1B on a recent flight from CDG to the US. One of the pilots thoughtfully came by to let me know that I was next to the crew rest spot (which I knew) and hoped I wouldn't mind that someone would be climbing over me every couple of hours and asking me to keep my stuff off of that seat. I was fine with all of that.

Just before leaving, a gate agent approached and said I needed to move because there were empty seats in BE and, therefore, the rule was that the seat next to the rest one should be empty. I wasn't wild about giving up my aisle seat but they were persistent. My choices were to be next to a woman with extreme BO and one next to a guy who smelled like he took a cigarette bath before boarding. Went with the latter and it was perfectly fine.

The purser later told me that there was no such rule and they should not have phrased it that way; that it was only a suggestion to make my flight more comfortable (which would certainly have been the case on a redeye but not so much on a day flight).

Anyone encountered this before?