Different "ballgame":
Several years ago I was flying on a 3 class JFK-LAX flt. 6 non-revs (a perk of their contract) were upg directly into F, I was #1 on the list for PAID pax (hoping) to upg into J, but didn't clear. Thinking back I'm still annoyed.
Thus issue was discussed in a thread I started at the time.
But rules are rules (contracts are contracts)...but AA should try to make their EXPS happy fliers.
While I agree that frequent fliers have nothing to complain about when they're not upgraded for free and they see employees sit in premium cabins, the non-rev travel benefits are
not contractual. The entire non-rev travel program is a privilege that can be modified at any time by management.