Interesting. I flew JFK-IST in both directions half a dozen times last year. All of the seats were provisioned for boarding, but once they'd closed the door and done the headcount the FAs went and stuck a big red sticker saying "Comfort Class Passengers Only" on the headrests of all empty seats. I saw a few poachers shooed away on each flight too.

+1

No one qualifies to judge you except yourself, even I think you are wrong.

My opinion is not binding to anyone.

On my domestic UA flights there are times when the FA's have to remind Y PAX they cannot move to empty EC seats.

EC? What's that? :D

Only a complete buffoon can't execute a successful move from E- to an empty E+ seat without detection.

I've never seen it enforced either.

I have. It was uncomfortable even for the people not involved.

Wow, when was this and what did the FA do?

You've seen the FA carefully check the manifest, or you've seen them stop some moron coming barreling up the aisle screaming "I'm gonna get me a free rich people seat!"?

I had two dudes try to sneak into the exit row, even sort of nodding when asked if those was their seats. Their lack of English wasn't the only thing giving it away, and the FA quickly made them move back.

But they were non-plussed about it.

Neither, she was asking to check their seat assignment. The she told them to move to their original seats, as she politely explained e+ costs extra. It got kinda quiet and everyone looking (I was sitting in other side of isle) but the FA was nice.

Why was she checking their seat assignments?

I did not ask. Probably she suspected it wasn't their seats.

Ok, trying to sneak exit row is pretty stupid.

Hmm. My guess is still that they committed some measure of buffoonery. Or maybe someone looked at the seatmap and reported them.

I think the key is knowing how UA's seatmaps work, and boarding late. I agree that exit row might be harder, but in the end, I don't think most FA's have a clue which seats are supposed to be occupied. Is it even on the manifest?

Your guess is as good as mine. They did look like they had no clue and did not belong there, so FA probably noticed it and wanted to double check.

UA's seatmaps are not always correct, and you're taking a risk relying on them. I guess there are also people who really don't realize they do have seat assignments and that some seats cost more than other seats...