Onboard downgrade?!

[TheDan]

Hi,
on a not-so-recent-anymore SYD-NRT flight (non-refurbished 747) I was sitting as Y passenger on one of the Y+ seats. Before departure a FA was talking to a lady a couple of rows away from me (unfortunately I could not hear anything). Afterwards she stood up and walked to the back, so clearly to a standard Y seat. Her seat was taken by a gentleman escorted by the same FA. When the passenger from the back sat down on his new seat, the FA was talking to him for quite a bit.

My and me seat-mate had no idea what just happened, I could not imagine anyone would be so rude just sitting himself on a Y+ seat before take off and successfully directing the actual occupant to her Y seat. But would Qantas send a Y passenger to a worse seat to make space for some elites in Y? Something else I could not imagine. Any ideas?

 

[markis10]

People have been known to help themselves, I had a couple help themselves to the first row of Y+ on a trip BNE SIN last year, they were commenting on how spacious it was but were soon moved. A year earlier I had a mum and toddler express surprise that 1D was not 40j on a domestic 767 :shock:

 

[Mwenenzi]

Could have been a couple/family who had booked/upgraded Y and Y+ but then swapped seats

 

[Dalescott]

I had an upgrade via points with EK last year (Dale and the story of the upgrade and downgrade). The plane was full in First, Business, and only two seat left in economy. They had problems with a first class seat, and as I was the only business upgrade on the plane, I ws downgraded to economy, which I was unhappy about. But I returned three or so hours later, when it appeared that the first class passenger wanted his seat back.
May be this is the answer to your question.