When will this stop? The news calls out unruly passengers but how about when it's the other way around?

My wife and I travel back and forth between Hawaii and the mainland on a monthly basis. We're both EP's as well. So we know the drill.

Today, we were #1 & #2 on the upgrade list but ended up in coach. There were 6 seats open in Premium Economy 30 minutes out, so pretty good odds for an upgrade, but then they disappeared off of expertflyer. I approach the counter and ask what happened to the 6 seats and am told, oh someone bought the seats because you know, it's an 8-hour flight. So we board and I casually ask the people sitting in the seats, how they ended up with the PE seats and they tell me, they are airline employees.

So an outright lie by the gate agent, but an easy answer to deflect any confrontation, with no consequences for the employee.

Now I know, that upgrades are only from coach to First, excluding PE. But in practice, if F is full, CK's and EP's are typically upgraded to PE as a consolation. PE is kind of an anomaly on Hawaii flights as it's the only domestic flight where PE is sold as a separate category. So they don't have anything specifically carved out to cover this in the upgrade process. But in practice, they do.

I wonder if this would have happened if we were CK?

On another flight, I was connecting via PHX to DFW to HNL with an overnight in DFW. So I had my garment bag and roller with me and was confirmed in F. I roll up to the gate and am told by the supervisor, you can't take that on the plane. I explain that I am spending the night at the minute suites in the airport and that I would like to have a change of clothes. I am told by this supervisor that if I don't hand over my bag, I will be pulled off the flight. So I give him the bag, while the employees around him are silently mouthing we're sorry. Of course, 1st had more than ample overhead storage space.

I wish Congress would give passengers a bill of rights with some teeth as they do in the UK. It stinks to be a domestic flyer these days.