I think the only acceptable coupon for a downgrade is a capacity free confirmable upgrade certificate - redeemable at time of ticket purchase on any published fare. This should include aircraft swap situations.

My dad has bumped somebody off their FC upgrade.

He was flying back from HKG, and they EUA'd him on the EWR-IAH leg perhaps 3 days prior. [That was a few years ago, now we all know how rare a EWR-IAH EUA will clear early.] CO98 was a little late coming back from HKG and CO assumed he'd miss the connection and give away his FC seat. However, my dad has no checked luggage and made it to the original flight in time, boarded and they had to move the other guy, who was apparently battlefielded, to the back.

I think it's perfectly fine to kick a seated FC passenger back to coach, but only when I'm the one doing the kicking

Seriously, I recently kicked a woman out of F on AA. I waited until the end of boarding to get on and she was in my seat. Of course, she had a boarding pass for that seat too, and we were both top-tier elites. The gate agent ultimately said it was mine, and she had to go back to Y, but I don't know what the full story was. I think I was actually kicking back her husband who was her companion upgrade (either non-elite or lower-level) but they had swapped, and she let him stay up front.

In any event, when there is clearly a computer snafu with duplicate seat assignments, there's obviously no choice but to downgrade somebody. But I do like the idea of a downgrade "kit" (which this woman didn't get to my knowledge).

Even if one of those back 4 are on a paid F fare? An involuntary downgrade of an F fare is probably going to require some serious compensation and entitlement to an involuntary reroute privilege at the very least.

Slightly off-topic: but, please please please, do not provide any more utterly f-ing useless companion coupons. That's the biggest sucker-punch Continental ever dealt me.

An equipment downgrade is an entirely different situation from a GA downgrading an upgraded passenger to accomodate a paying F pax.

I am of the view that once you're in F, you're in F, except in the case of equipment changes. Just as I cannot decide at the airport that I want to pay the difference between coach and first and bump an upgraded pax out of their F seat, a GA should not downgrade an upgraded pax to accomodate a paying F pax who they did not anticipate would make the flight. This is why battlefields should be done at the absolute last minute and CO should hold the paying F pax's F seat until the door is about to be closed. Or, CO should refuse to honor the F reservation if the pax cannot make it to the gate five minutes prior to departure, unless they are aware the passenger is on a late connecting flight.

Let me give you a little more detail on this one. Earlier in the day (3 1/2 hours before my flight) I was emailed a F upgrade notification. I then checked in at the airport and received 3F boarding pass. Flight was 1 1/2 hours late and then I boarded the plane put my stuff away and a guy told me he had the same seat. Supposedly they thought this guy was on stand-by on an earlier flight but didn't make it on. I don't know where Continental messed up but the guy tells me I am in on the aisle in 21. It was very funny, I was going to get all my stuff out of the overhead and all the passengers in F said leave it there. I go back there and the seat is occupied so they end up giving me a seat on the window (next to a 4 year old kid) in 21.The FA was really nice about it but it was not fun in coach for 3 hours and 47 minutes.

Thanks channa, we're indeed looking into this, and appreciate you bringing it up.

You're already seated and you have a legitimate boarding pass for that seat.

Why should you move? Why is the airline's queuing problem your problem?

If they threaten to call law enforcement then I would move, but by threatening to call law enforcement they have just upped the ante and level of repercussion anyway.

So my question is a serious one. Why should you move?

Because they will likely call law enforcement.

smile. nail, head.

if they make you move, you should be able to get your original seat back. the GA i dealt with didn't want to make the passenger move. but, in effect, that was what they did to me so why shouldn't the person that got my coach seat have it done to him.

in the end, i accepted $100 but CO should have some type of service recovery kit like other airlines (although i am a bit confused by the moniker "service recovery." it's more of a "goodwill" kit.).

I had a much worse version of this happen to me a few months ago from Newark to San Jose. Because of the egregiousness of the situation, I spoke to the Station Manager for Newark (by accident he was nearby - after the flight left without me) emailed Larry Kellner, the head of customer service and the CEO of Northwest. I'm a NW Platinum. It turns out that this shouldn't have happened to me, but when I asked some questions in the President's Club about seat assignments, the agent downgraded me by accident. This took significant research on Continental's part to figure out.

What made the situation particularly pathetic was when I got off to talk to the gate agent and/or a supervisor, I got tremendous attitude, couldn't get back on the plane and had my carry-bag go without me.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...hlight=leiterk


You should definitely talk to Customer Service and insist on compensation or at least a confirmed space upgrade.

I understand that they may like to float an unstated threat to get their way, but are you making this assertion as fact or as speculation? Because the insinuation in summing authoriities is that the passenger is commiting, or is about to commit, a crime, and that arbitrary seat assignments by gate agents have the force of law.

And that the passenger about to be carried away, the one with the legitimate boarding pass, is guilty of some wrongdoing.

Just asking.

Because upgrades are free and unlimited on Continental! ^

When I wasn't getting anywhere in EWR and the plane was about to leave without me after I got off to deal with a supervisor, they threatened to call security because I said I was going over to talk to some people in suits across the hall who were inaugurating a new flight. They clearly were Continental excutives.