I am very glad I rechecked my flight and grabbed an exit row seat via the reprint boarding pass option. Most people had no idea about the swap until they announced it at the gate and, unfortunately, there was a high volume of paid F passengers involuntarily downgraded or given the option to take a later flight if they were not connecting onwards. At an hour out I talked to the redcoat and offered myself up for VDB, but she did not end up needing me. It was a mess for the gate agents, espescially considering that this flight is always full of people connecting at LAX from Asia and Australia, which usually means grumpy passengers and language barriers.

Had I not checked, it would have been a middle seat for me as it ended up being for a lot of plats~