Originally Posted by
findark
Yes, but... there is no promise that the first overbooked seat in the inferior cabin causes a block in the next cabin. They could just be choosing to straight overbook.
Good point. It’s not like United publishes an API for this. We’re just getting glimpses of the external consequences of their internal algorithm, which is proprietary and subject to random changes and quirks anytime they feel like it.
Originally Posted by
Kacee
Yes, but keep in mind that if we are talking about how UA displays that scenario, PE will show as "full" rather than blocked 1. And on the Polaris 772, the J cabin will now show blocked 5, with 3 blocked for crew rest (unless J is blocked full, in which case the display will simply say "full" without any reference to the block).
Got it. In this case, PE was showing “Full” starting at T-24, but 5 minutes before boarding it was still showing checked in 23/24. However, I never saw more than +3 blocked J seats, which is consistent with crew rest only, so I’m led to conclude that Y wasn’t overbooked enough to matter.
I’m surprised that 3 J seats are blocked for crew rest even on 7-hour TATL flights.