Originally Posted by
Anudoric
FOs also get priority telephone ticketing assistance over general SM members, complimentary upgrades on many low-traffic routes, Zone 1 boarding, free preferred seats at D-24 hours, and other secondary benefits.
/bolding mine/
No, they don't. See this:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/24504015-post22.html
So... Today almost all benefits you can get through $95/year amex. Except maybe exit rows. Other than that - extra miles are not that huge with 25k flying (I mean $3k spending), and EC at T-24 isn't a big deal because of, again, only 25k. Plus, mostly it'd be nothing or middle seat at T-24 on popular routes.
So, mostly I agree - being a FO isn't something that special.