Originally Posted by
Centurion
This is so wrong... I do not know where to begin. It is common practice to move overbooked into next class of service. Example BA on a regular basis oversells world traveler plus in many markets and you get bumped into biz. I can not think of a 3 class of service equipped airline that does not do it including aa.
This thread is about upgrades, not an overbooked situation. AA does not move (paid or upgraded) J passengers to F to make room for Y-to-J upgrade requests. If Y were overbooked, AA would move J passengers to F and Y passengers to J to make room for the overbooked passengers.
There's a
huuuuge difference between someone who has no seat because the plane is overbooked and someone trying to use a 500-mile upgrade...
And as others have explained, the standby passengers were most likely non-rev and as such are entitled to F if it is available.