some politicians will decline upgrades for the reasons discussed above. they do not want to be seen by voters in his/her district in first class. most people will assume the politician was flying first class at taxpayer expense!

I used to live near the house of a famous US senator(multiple terms). I sometimes end up following him in traffic all the way into town because it was a single-lane highway. He always drove a 15-year-old beat-up, but clean, domestic 4-door sedan with senator license plate from his home state. One day I saw him at the local grocery parking lot, but this time in a top-of-the-line Mercedes S550 sedan, also with senator license plates.... guess the beat-up domestic sedan was just for show?(probably looks better in the parking lot at the US Congress? )