Originally Posted by
sltlyamusd
On my last A320 flight, there were two tail swaps within 36 hr of departure (149 pmVX config to 150 AS config, then finally to 146 pmVX). I noticed they had already processed premium and first class upgrades at the time of the second tail swap, although I only saw 7 seats occupied in F, which led me to wonder whether they hold back on F upgrades until they know for sure the assigned a/c will have 12 F? Not sure what they do for premium class upgrades when the plane switches back to the non-reconfigured version with fewer premium seats (probably easiest to just leave everyone in the same seats than to try to reseat everyone).
In both cases where I saw tail swaps close to departure it was on 1208/1213.
I've seen the swaps between the reconfigs and pmVX configs a few times before departure. Honestly, while what you're seeing at check-in time is generally right, there's still a chance of a swap until you're in the air. In cases where the premium seating has changed, I've heard FAs discussing "almost running out" of some of the snacks and needing to save some for the exit rows (initially was an aircraft w/ 6, 16, 17 as PC, but then changed to 6-10). So it seems while this is happening, they're giving folks PC who paid for it or had it from a comp upgrade to avoid any passenger meltdowns over drinks/snacks due the swaps (or at least that's what I've seen).