QuietLion, I so appreciate your perspective about passengers being treated as problems to be dealt with on the way to earning perks. I guess I wonder how employees "deserve" first class, but paying customers do not. I'm a 1K and PassPlus and I'm virtually always up front. And, I've really tried to examine my attitude toward so many crew flying in First, because there's a piece of it that feels classist--like the "help" eats in the kitchen, not at the table with the family they serve. It also just sends a message that coach is for lowlife and that employees would not be caught dead there.

Now, I realize this is part of their contract and if I were crew, boy, you bet I'd negotiate for that too, because in theory, it costs the airline nothing. Well, things have changed from the days when at least half of First flew empty. There is much more competition for those seats now, and the policy is outdated.