sxc, your experience does not match mine. In fact, many/most airlines make it easy to change the booking class of a ticket with a refare and reissue. They do not require you to "cancel your ticket and get a new ticket" as you indicate. And while in some cases that may be what is happening on the back end, typically agents refer to it as "changing" a ticket. Not sure what airlines you have called who bark at you. But I've done it tens of times and never been barked at--just given the new fare, new fare class, and the change/upfare cost.