Originally Posted by
notquiteaff
The purser firmly and politely declined (despite the 1K card waving and some arguing)...You're talking about good-will. If the purser had agreed to the free inflight upgrade, UA would have risked losing the good-will of all the other passengers in C who in one form or another paid for their seats in that cabin.
I have found that waiving your card around only hurts your chances. I have seen numerous passengers try this type of behavior and each time it ends the same way. It's also looks very childish.
For the record, I would never ask to be moved up on the aircraft after the doors have closed - downright tacky. Besides, the flight attendants have no idea if they story they're being told is true as they have no way to look up the requesting passenger's PNR.