agree with PHLgovflyer- it really depends on destination and point of origin.

Dont you see the ads everywhere for the "five inches of legroom"??? and I think when a non premier member checks in on a kiosk they are now given the ability to "buy up." gosh. if I was used to being thrown into 26 B or E and was given the option to buy 8A for 30 bucks, Id do it in a millisecond!
My guess is that is a large part of the problem.