Originally Posted by
prometa
It’s possible UA looks at prior seating assignments when reassigning, but given reports upthread I can’t imagine so. We were on D fares, so probably not high enough for that to matter. The plane had approx 6-8 GS and 20-30 1K, so status wouldn’t seem to be the dominant factor either.
I think it's pretty well established that the primary, and probably only, factor is your current seat assignment when the equipment is swapped. It's the exact mapping that tends to make no sense.