Originally Posted by RNE
You know how CO threatens its non-elite customers with possibly being thrown out of their seats if they select elite ones? Is this an urban myth or does CO really do it? And if it does, is CO going to crack down now in the face of this website glitch letting every Tom, Dick and Harry in? As others have noted, with elite upgrades being so scarce, exit row seats are practically the only "upgrades" available.
Under normal website circumstances, if a non-elite simply books a ticket using a non-elite frequent flyer number (or no number), they can choose an elite seat on the seat selector but the website will not allow them to reserve it. In other words, they can select elite seats on every segment, but before purchase the seats will revert back to random non-elite seats. That said, an elite can log into a non-elite's PNR and reserve elite seats for companions, etc. So non-elites technically aren't barred from reserving seats in the elite section, they just have to be reserved by an elite.
Also, seating is a free-for-all when OLCI begins, and non-elites can sit wherever they want (much to the chagrin of elites who have lobbied CO (unsuccessfully, so far) to force non-elites into the non-elite section until it is full and to block middle seats in the elite section until middle seats in the back fill up).