Darien, welcome to F-T!
With all due respect...your youth does have its advantages.
To many of this group (older, experienced, tired 'road warriors'), your 8 flights per year equal some of our monthly segments (look at F-T Itineraries). When you factor that difference in seatwidth, and major difference in legroom, it means a lot to us.
The difference in service levels between front & back are the biggest factor for me personally (a seat number compared to a real person).
Upgrades are the 'holy grail' for most of us, (they sure are for me) but it's only so we can get to our business and back in a decent frame of mind.
Plus, we do have the benefit of this venue to help us massage the systems for our travels.
Read & listen to what everyone is saying here, and you will get something out of it that you can use in your limited travels.
[This message has been edited by shadow (edited 08-18-1999).]