Originally Posted by
UnevenGray
I think getting an assigned seat messes up the priority. I know on the airport standby list (viewable to any employee trying to travel), there is a priority code for Inconvenienced - First and would get a seat assignment ahead of Basic, inconvenienced main cabin, etc. If push came to shove, that priority should get a main cabin seat if that's all that is left. I think by getting the main seat assignment, it defaults back to the status/fare class upgrade ranking.
I agree with you here, Say OP was either F w./o a seat vs, an F who "chose" a seat in the main cabin. The former has to be handled by the GA. The latter does not,
There are a few other situations where I would think no seat assignment is best. If all that is left are bad seats, better to wait for the upgrades to clear and hope tp grab one of their seats, I have no idea of how to "unselect:" a sat assignment though.