I disagree -- put yourself in the other position. You and your significant other are tarvelling on your long awaited trip. You book your tickets (i dont care -- purchased or upgraded) and find you cant sit next to each other. You think, no problem, we will ask. Lo and behold -- noone is willing to switch. To me, thats a rotten start to a long awaited trip.

Perfect example -- on my flight from BOS to LAX on AA in business class. I had my nice, comfy bulkhead business class seat. Couple boards the plane -- one next to me, one several rows back. Ask the person several rows back to swtich -- SINCE IT WAS THEIR HONEYMOON -- and she said no. Even though the bulkhead is my favorite seat -- I switched. They thanked me profusely. They even made sure they waited when they got off the plane to say thanks. (during the flight, they got to chat and play chess).

To me -- switch is a nice thing.

--Jim