I paid for premium coach exit row - no one else did but moved there!
 

I booked a flight LAX-JFK and could only afford coach seating. AA offers exit row seats for $65-$99. I selected the bulkhead exit row seat with tons of leg room and paid the fee. Boarding the plane, the entire row across the aisle from me was empty and just before take off, other passengers from coach helped themselves to those seats. The flight crew saw and didn't care. So they got for free what I had to pay for. Granted I was guaranteed a seat they were not. Still not really fair. Also wouldn't it be in the airline's financial interest to charge onboard for those seats? You want an exit row give us your credit card for $99 and you can have it vs. letting people move and sit there for free.

I’m exp and selected an exit row seat. Day of travel aa did an aircraft swap and I was out of the exit row and six brand new people who had not selected the exit row found themselves in those seats

i tweeted aa, their response. Tough luck

Sometimes I pay for J only to find out that I could have gotten a free upgrade. I’m ok with that.

AA should do a better job to prohibit this (crews need to enforce it). It is a matter of fairness.

That is a revenue loss for AA, but has nothing to do with OP. OP paid for his seat assignment and got what he paid for.

If OP had not paid, you can bet that all 6 seats would have been filled and he would have been stuck in a middle seat in front of the rear lav.

You get double eqms buying F, at least

Who cares? Should I have a fit everytime I pay a premium of $4,500.00 for a J seat and someone else gets upgraded because of a SWU or an Op Up? They are getting for free what I had to pay for. Granted I was guaranteed a seat they were not...

Use the opportunity to pick their brains for more sound financial advice @:-)

It is a calculated risk. I have at least a 50/50 shot at a premium seat when booking basic economy if I wait until the last minute to check-in.

If you’re ticked off by another passenger getting a freebie or a better deal than you, I suggest you select another mode if travel. If one were to poll passengers on same itineraries, seated next to one another on any given flight, any day, you will find a huge variance in ticket cost.

I"m more intrigued by the OP's account of there being an empty exit row.

The OP has a point the responders seem to be missing. The passengers did not get upgraded to the exit row, they just took those seats. If you paid for a first class seat and someone from coach who wasn't upgraded just walked up and sat in an empty first class seat, would you be as cavalier? I think not.

The onus should be on flight attendants to enforce these seats so they are not poached.

The flight attendants should be roasted or at least grilled about this poaching

Years ago I was on a Singapore Air flight from SFO-HKG in an exit row (I had paid $100USD for the privilege). I was in the aisle seat; there was a gentleman in the window seat and the middle seat was empty. FA came by and asked us if we were OK with another passenger moving to the middle seat. The other gentleman and I mentioned we had paid $100USD and asked if the potential interloper would be paying the same fee. The flight attendant said no, and agreed that it wasn't fair and the other passenger was not moved to our row. Seems fair to me and professionally handled by the FA. Now I don't expect AA FAs to measure up to SQ FAs, but I do think it is AA's interest to instruct them to defend the MCE seats as if they don't, why should people pay for what they get for free.

BTW, when flying airlines where I don't get extra leg room for free, I always pay for an extra leg room seat. The comfort is worth the money to me.