AC872 2/17 77W Swap from 40J to 28J
 

Interesting situation for AC872 YYZ-FRA on 2/17 that may have affected a few folks here.

I booked this flight (en route to TXL) in E a couple weeks ago, at which point there were 15+ unsold J seats. EF has been showing J9 R0 since then. Checking in at T-24, I checked the upgrade standby list and saw 40 available, 26 booked. Later on, it became 27, 28, and then 29 booked, perhaps from earlier-confirmed OYB upgrades checking in or last minute purchases / upgrades. In any case, my chances looked pretty good.

This morning, I woke up to an unpleasant surprise: the upgrade list was now showing 28 available, 28 booked. I suspected (and later confirmed) that there was an equipment swap from the 40J 77W config to the 28J one. I ended up changing my routing to AC856 via LHR, which is currently showing 30 available, 19 booked, with me at the top of the list and 2 hours to boarding.

While the situation was not great for me, at least I was never confirmed in J. I was wondering what happened to that 29th "booked" person on AC872 mentioned above. I later found out at the YYZ Concierge office. A couple came in and revealed that both of them were booked in O and confirmed in J, only to have one of them involuntarily downgraded this morning. To make matters worse, there was a third passenger in their traveling party who paid for an LMU yesterday so they could all sit in J. So much for that.

Unfortunate situation, and I hope they are re-accommodated and / or compensated to their satisfaction, but just a useful reminder that unless you've paid for J (and sometimes even when you have!), there's always a chance you don't end up there, no matter how "certain" the upgrade outlook appears.

Anyone else in this boat?

If you book a specific seat that exists on almost all widebody aircraft (from row 7 forward, and A, F or K) then you can minimize exposure to down-gauges. I have lucked out this way many times. In fact, recently I had 1A on a DH4 that was upgauged to a CR9 and ended up in business class (well, with economy service).

That's actually an interesting case. I'm envisioning something like YHZ-YOW-LHR on a J fare, but with an all-Y cabin on the first segment. If they upgauge to something with a J cabin, I'd expect the J fare pax to have absolute priority on those seats, even if they don't offer J service. Just because it was scheduled as all-Y doesn't mean no one paid for J.

Booked for AC872 next week, row 10 on a paid J(P) fare, hopefully they do not have the same issue then.

That's the case -- if you hold a J eligible fare (whether revenue or AP business class), a waitlist is constructed for J. If a J aircraft is magically subbed in, the J waitlist clears into J.

Happens occasionally on routes like YVR-YYJ where lots of people might travel overseas on a reasonably priced J fare, and they do a quick A320 turn to clean up a mess or to reposition an aircraft.

If you're in a paid J fare, I think the chances of an involuntary downgrade would be VERY low. They'd start with all the eUpgrade, bid upgrade, LMU folks first.

Yes EF show enough empty seats in the first seven rows to cover occupants of rows 8 thru 11