I'm in the middle of a long trip, but flew SNA-MSP today (on a semi-last minute award booking). The flight was full, I was settled into the exit row on the A319 (9-B), when I received a battlefield upgrade. But, instead of the GA handing me my new boarding pass, it was another pax!

How common is it for GAs to do this? I wasn't too keen on this practice since my WPs number was on my BP, which the guy had obviously read (nevermind that he was calling my full name as soon as he entered the coach cabin out loud--which I found rather hillarious). This seemed to show a great deal of laziness on the part of the GA. Is this even within NW rules?

In the end, I stayed in coach with my SO and gave the guy my upgrade (I told the SO to take the upgrade, but she didn't want it), but I'm still baffled.