Originally Posted by
MSPeconomist
Can NRSAs see the ticket type and status of passengers on flights they're trying to catch? If so, it was incredibly stupid for this person to pick you when attempting to steal an assigned seat. Many CKs would know the rules, and someone on a paid expensive ticket is likely to complain and also to be a HVC to AA. A CK/HVC is also likely to have contacts within AA who would take this sort of situation seriously.
Airline staff are experts at this actually... U.S. airlines have such ghastly cultures that some staff even look at other non-revs with higher priorities than them (especially because pilots and FAs seem to despise their corporate counterparts which in some cases have higher priorities including space positive travel). Also, those traveling with companions act like hawks monitoring the seat maps of the flights they are trying to get on. Completely agree that the guy's action was incredibly stupid, but then again, this is AA we are talking about.
Many, many years ago when I graduated from college, I was being interviewed for a corporate role so UA booked me as a space positive non-rev. I had an incredibly parasitic FA who sat next to me and the first thing out of her mouth was something along the lines of how us corporate guys had it really good asking me if I had a family or friend who had gotten me the job at UA. I explained to her that I was just a kid out of school interviewing at the time and then she lowered her guard and spent the rest of the flight whining about how terrible United was (gave me the example of how it was ridiculous that UA corporate made the decision not to load enough desserts in Global First for paid passengers and that her last purser had "stolen desserts" from crew meals to offer them to their passengers). I ultimately got the job but fortunately a much better company made me a strong offer, thereby saving me from wasting years of my life at UA with its extremely parasitic employees who would go to such depths of stalking passengers with higher priorities than them.