Guest from Y in empty J seat on continental flight?
 

Is it allowed to invite a guest from Y to join you in J for a 2x2 configuration where you have two seats to yourself? I can see how this would be a problem in 3x3, but how about 2x2?

What do you mean by "guest" exactly?

A Y passenger sitting in a J seat for any length of time will be frowned upon.

Some FAs will reject the mere presence of Y folks in the J cabin.

Pax ticketed in Y who spends at least part of the flight occupying the spare J seat (next to J pax who wants the Y guest there). I suppose we can just try it and see what happens, but I'm curious to know if it has been OK for anyone else.

If you want them to sit there you'll need to upgrade them.

Otherwise expect them to be asked to go back to Y.

Not on LH, but my GF was allowed to sit next to me in SK plus.

On a recent OS European flight I saw parents in Business Class (seat configuration 2-2) and their teenage kids in Y right behind C section. When their teenage son moved to C to sit next to his dad, the FA approached and asked him to go back to Y.

I mean, let's get real: what's the next step after passengers from Y are allowed in C as your "guests"? They will order drinks and food from C? You will enjoy the company of multiple "guests" one by one throughout the flight? Or you will ask your "guests" to take every unoccupied seat in C?

Well, this last scenario would obviously be way out of bounds, but I do understand how food and drinks might be a slippery point. Nonetheless, it does happen that F pax are allowed to invite a guest into the F cabin to share caviar and dinner (I've seen it happen), so allowing a guest in a spare J seat seems minor by comparison.

Your company can join you in the airport lounge. Keep the C cabin to C passengers.

J seats are not buy one, get one free. You are welcome to go back and hang out next to your friend in Y if there is an open seat though. Not trying to be snarky, but you understand that it is a problem if everyone in J expects to upgrade a friend for free. Also, I'd also like to upgrade myself to an open seat in J. I'll make friends with my seatmate post hoc.

I'd expect a speedy request that everyone sits in their ticketed cabin other than for a very brief check-in. And yeah. The FAs will notice.

ETA: Wasn't there a Seinfeld episode about this?

I appreciate the replies and also the perspectives. Sounds like it's not a common practice to allow visits, unlike in the F cabin.

Nope not allowed you can’t just invite people to come sit in a different class of service, not sure exactly what airline you are on but most are pretty quick to send people back to their cabin plus it is rare at the time of the actual flight to have empty seats

Well, seats are empty in J by default on a continental flight (every Business class seat gets a spare empty one), so in 2x2, you have the row to yourself.

As for your question about the airline, I'm asking about Lufthansa. I've seen in LH F that pax can indeed invite in people from a different class of service, which is why I was wondering about the empty seat scenario. There isn't a huge difference between having your visitor sit on your F ottoman vs. one sitting on your designated spare J seat. Either way, you're sharing what you bought with your ticket. At any rate, I totally understand why visitors would be frowned upon, but they are allowed in F.

I can imagine a momentary respite from being scolded. Like a child Y pax up in J for 15 minutes to talk to parent. But beyond that it seems inappropriate and disrespectful to the J pax who paid for their tix.

I respect what it takes to have a seat in J, whether by cost, points, loyalty. And for those F pax who get to have a guest? They paid more than a J pax so get more privileges. Why not just book an F seat if you want the privilege of having a Y guest join you?

You keep saying that about F. Perhaps it was an exception rather than the rule.
I haven't been many times in F to be honest, maybe around 20 times but I have never seen this happen. I have only seen a fellow F passenger joining another F passenger on the ottoman.

If I were in F and saw people from Y or C being guested, I would be the first to complain to the purser. F passengers pay enough to expect a quiet cabin rather than crowds of visitors.
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If you experienced that in F, that was a rather big exception. F cabin is/should be kept for F pax only. On two occasions I have seen requests for a quick J to F migration being declined by FAs. It may work for a quick chat during the boarding process. Once all are in their seats, one stays in their ticketed cabin. You might have a big luck if F is empty (almost never these days) to host a guest for a drink after take off and before the meal service. But I would object to this happening, as it devalues F.