Originally Posted by
ms_go
I had my seat swapped this morning by a gate agent at ORD, and I didn't even have a chance to say no. I first noticed the change when I opened the pass on my app when boarding began and saw that my seat had changed from 4B to 1A. I asked the gate agent why, and she told me a family had asked to sit together. When I told her I chose the seat I did because I prefer not to be on the bulkhead, the response was, "Sorry, that's all we have left." Apparently I was not the only one with a surprise last minute seat change. I heard another couple asking the flight attendants during boarding why their seats had been changed.
I wonder if this is one of those times it's advantageous to have a paper BP. The agent would have had to print out a new BP and, presumably, call you up to the podium, giving you at least a slight chance to revert to your old seat. Having the agent wait until you get the "invalid" beep while boarding, then handing you a replacement BP with a brush off comment about changing your seat, would have inevitably led to you holding up the line while (politely) complaining about the seat swap - and shining a light on the agent's actions.