BB: advance seat assignments with select portions of plane to elite members (exit rows, front 6 rows in econo etc.)
Alternatively (and what I prefer in some ways), block the middle seat next to a level 2 or level 3 flyer flying alone (until needed of course). I'd rather have an empty middle seat in row 22 than be in row 15 with the middle full. (This is of course what CP did).
Howard: AC could certainly learn from the UA/AA model.
This is also the CP model until this year, selling upgrade stickers and pretty much filling the front section all the time. I took great advantage of it (only CP Gold, but flying on a refundable ticket, I could only be bumped from the at-the-gate list by an EP). But it all comes down to whether Business Class is treated by the airline as an occasional perk and leave the seats empty, or fill the seats and reduce the demand for revenue seats up font. It would probably mean eliminating class-of-service bonuses on upgrades as I suggested in another thread, but I think the trade-off's worth it.
But here's a question: if AC were to offer "unlimited" upgrades (for $$$) as CP did, would it be acceptable to reduce the service level? And would the high-revenue passengers accept it? Or if they're going to severely restrict upgrade availability, should they be increasing service to something more like CP's international-quality (in North America)? I think offering both the first-class service, _and_ unlimited upgrades, is not a great business model (and is what CP had to do).
andrew