This is my first post here. So being the new person I will probably be viewed with some suspicion until I get to be known, in either a favorable or unfavorable light by others. I would hope that folks here can be adult about things and agree to disagree. Which from some of the posts I've read may not be easy. Having said that:
I have read several threads that outright just bash the Air Marshal's. Some here just call them thieves, sacks of ballast, say they are easy to spot, and they make it more dangerous to fly, since they are armed.
Instead of taking your complaints out on the individual FAM or the gate agent, why don't you do something about it? Like write a letter to your elected representatives. Write to the Director of the Federal Air Marshal Service. Write to Tom Ridge. Tell them how easy they are to spot. Tell them how the FAM's stick out with the short hair cuts, look like SWAT team members in suits, always sit in the same seats, are there when you get on and you get booted out of your "rightful" seat. Please do that. Because you will do the FAM's a big favor. They themselves are making the same arguments to their superiors. They want nothing more than to be able than to blend in. To not look like SWAT team members. To sit in different seats. Because they also know that if you see them, the folks that want to harm the airlines, hijack airplanes and crash them also can see them. If you have been paying any attention to the news you would know this. It's their management (and the industry itself also has some input) that tells them how to dress, how to look, where to sit, how to board the airplane. If they were truly undercover, as they should be, you would never know they were next to you. The FAMS is run by a bunch of former Secret Service managers. How well does the Secret Service blend in? There's nothing secret about them. If you want to read articles about it, I would be glad to post links. Or, you could just do a Google search and find the info yourself like I have.
If you honestly believe that the individual guy in the seat took it to deprive you of something or make you mad, you have issues. Most of the men and women who took the job didn't take it so they could get free upgrades to first class on flights they don't choose to fly on. They don't just walk up to the ticket counter and say "I want to go to BFE today. Oh yea, and while your at it, throw Spiff and FWAA out of their seats so we can sit there." They took the job because they don't want to see another day like 9/11. It's not so they can get the deli plate or cold salmon platter with pasta salad garnish or to have the comfy chair.
I have lost my seat upgrade a couple times. I got mad at first. Then I realized they are there to protect the public, and I got my upgrade the next time I flew. Do like I did, write to your elected officials about what you saw. After reading the articles I felt it was the right thing to do.
Here are a couple links about their "dress code" (There are more out there).
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5592651/
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/15/na...5CND-MARS.html
So please, rather than say you're going to "out" the guy next time you don't get your frequent flyer upgrade, write a letter to someone. Tell them your experience or observations. Just try not to whine about it as you write. It's not personal on the part of the man or woman in the seat, so don't take it as such.