Most of my travel is solo, but occasionally I have a companion. Typically, we are usually both booked in J, but there have been times when I've had a J seat, and my companion is in Y and listed for an upgrade.
When the upgrade hasn't come through, I've given my companion the J seat, let the SD know, and elected to sit in Y. That's my choice of course, but I have never received any recognition as an SEMM sitting in the Y cabin. Fortunately, I don't expect any, so I've never been disappointed.