Originally Posted by
ExplorerWannabe
... The problem with UA's story is that they boarded the passenger in question. If she had cancelled (via app or otherwise), she wouldn't have had a valid boarding pass for the flight, period, end of story. ....
The reported story seems to be the passenger was initially denied boarding but UA was able to restore the ticket -- in economy, E+. So the stories seem consistent
For a classic "bumped from first class" passenger, UA does not cancel the ticket but simply changes the seat assignment -- a forced downgrade. So this situation does not fit the standard bump pattern. The "canceled" ticket is anomalous.