Yes, thanks again CWS this is a good thread.
One thing is that in the past few months on the 2 occasions on domestic when I didn't have a free seat beside me I had a member of staff (in full uniform) presumably because they were a last minute / standby sort of a seat reservation?
I should say that I was very happy with this due to the opportunity for chitty-chatty, the staff members- probably not so much...!!