Originally Posted by
musicalbox
This is indeed how it goes. All other cars (other than FC) are assigned before the QC. On not completely full trains you get the desired "only people who want to be in the QC are in the QC" effect. On completely/almost completely full trains some people who don't want to be there are forced to be there, I guess, but I always sit in the QC and even on 90-100% full trains, it's decently quiet.
In my opinion, this effect is probably the biggest positive of moving to assigned seating. Prior to assigned seating, you would often get a few people sitting themselves in the QC obliviously. And then angst and confrontation would occur when when they were loud.
To the OP’s question, my answer is “sometimes”. If I am trying to take a nap or get serious work done I prefer the QC. If I want a couple cocktails and/or I am putting the Bose headset on anyway, I prefer First (unless I get stuck at a table, but that’s a different topic). I therefore pick when to upgrade accordingly.