Oh, those memories. I recall standing at the gate in LAX and being asked for them. Full flight, generally chaotic and noisy. Fumbling thru carry-on and having trouble locating them. GA snapping "you have one min, otherwise the people behind get the upgrade because they have theirs". Fortunately, they turned up. Who needs that stress?
New system is better. Except that in the old days sometimes they didn't actually ask for them. Unfortunately, that only seemed to happen nearer to the end of the benefit year when it was less likely there was another opportunity to use them.
