unfortunately there is not much you can do here....ai has been doing this for years & i don't see them stopping anytime soon....there have been a number of times i have tried a cash upgrade at the airport only to be denied with the excuse that there are no seats....while on board i have seen them upgrade staff & family members of staff after the doors have been closed....

a number of years ago i was flying del-lhr on ai in j & a passenger came & sat down besides me....she seemed pretty excited to be there & even asked me take a couple of pictures of her from her phone....we got to talking & she said she was flying on a staff ticket as her brother worked for ai & she was in business class for the first time....about 10 minutes before take off some staff members approached her & said that there had been some mistake & she would have to move back to economy....she protested a bit but then got up & left.....a few minutes later another lady came over & sat down besides me....we got to talking a little later & it turns out she was the mother of one of the on board staff & was also on a staff ticket....they probably bumped her up & moved the other girl back at the last minute....