Not incorrect.
If anyone can allocate any vacant seat at OLCI, checkin kiosk, airport check-in, bag drop, Qantas lounge and gate lounge then your "shadow" theory holds no weight what so ever. It is pot luck who has the vacant seat when the flight gets under way. The Chairmans lounge in 4C has someone sitting in 4B, the Platinum One in 4D has someone sitting in 4E and the lowly Platinum in 5D has a vacant seat. That is what I call pot luck.
If you "shadow" truly existed then there would never ever be a full flight. Would there?
There you go again - the world according to one's personal perception. There is a bigger world out there than most, including myself, can really perceive.
The 'shadow' is no theory - it is practice - I have observed them on dozens of flights; moving along with a statused passenger changing seats. This on the same flight as others travelling with me but on separate bookings. Observation tools include Qantas.com/myb, Expert Flyer and KVS.
Yes, a shadow may be overridden, but it takes manual intervention to override Altea and can not be done at
OLCI/Checkin/Kiosk. Yes, an agent may do something with a few keystroke or a phone call that obliterates a shadow but that does not mean it did not exist.
Most of the time I indeed have a free seat beside me - but I do travel on off peak time generally.
Of course a WP or SG who mainly books the cheapest fares when travelling on Friday evening or Sunday nights would be hard pressed to find a 'shadow', let alone a free adjacent seat given they are likely well down the PCV pecking order.
As for never being a full flight - you obviously can't seem understand the concept of a shadow - consider it a 'soft' block - the shadowed seat can be occupied, but only as the remaining seats diminish as a flight fills - there will be no shadows remaining on a full flight.
