Originally Posted by
aceboy44
When I landed in DXB the Skywards agent confirmed to me that there were plenty of empty seats available in J class, so why was I denied the upgrade offer online and couldn't upgrade at the check-in counter?
Not the point. You had the opportunity to confirm the upgrade when you called the call center.
You could have changed the seats later (and while bulkheads are often blocked till day-of, not sure why row 8 was, but I doubt it was in the hands of the phone agent).
Always secure the seat.