Change in elite seating policy
Am flying with family from IAD-CGK and had to change the reservation dates. Due to different travel on the inbound part of this ticket, we are on separate reservations, but when we flew to IAD, there were no problems in having my wife and daughter assigned to "elite seats" in WBC. I had also obtained these seats for them on the outbound leg, but when I changed the travel dates and needed to get new seat assignments, the customer service rep told me that there had been a change of policy in "the last couple weeks" and that they were no longer allowed to move up non-elites to elite seats when they were not on the same reservation as an elite member (even if they were travelling together, as is the case here).
After some back and forth, he agreed to talk to the "seating department" (?) and eventually came back with the good news that because the original reservation had been made prior to the policy change, we could all sit together as desired (row 1, all the way from IAD to HKG).
As you would expect, he said that there had been many irate calls from elites who had been unable to obtain "elite seating" -- apparently the majority of these seats are occupied by non-elites. Still, it seems like a silly change, as he explained that if elites and non-elites are travelling on the same reservation, they can all still get elite seats, just as before.