Originally Posted by JustAMushroom

And just to be clear...if you are jumpseating, and the gate agent gives you a boarding pass/seat, you're still jumpseating and should ask for a ride. The gate agent has no authority over jumpseating, only the Captain. On several occasions gate agents will give me a seat and say "no need to check in with the captain" or something similar. Of course, I do anyway. Just another example of the constant strain on capt authority.