Originally Posted by D582

Generally in my experience on AC and many other airlines is swapping seats when you board is fine, as long as there are not visits from the lower cabin to the higher cabin, swapping seats, or sending service items and food from the higher cabin back to the lower cabin.



Emphasis mine. On the assumption that this seat is paid for by your employer, my opinion is there is an ethical issue in swapping seats like this. An employer who pays to fly their employees in J does so because there is some derived benefit for them (i.e. more relaxed, more well-rested employees, able to be more productive quicker). They are not paying for this to let you give it a family member and substitute a cheaper seat for yourself. If you're clearly comfortable flying in PY, then you should be downgrading yourself to sit with your father in PY and saving your employer money. My previous employer had a policy that prohibited this both for the reasons I citied and for taxable benefit issues.