Maybe this desrves a new thread, but I just wanted to share with you the fact that I had the best luck finding a competent agent last night.
Three days before departure LAX-EWR, I saw on ITN that there was one F seat left, and I had still not been upgraded. I called CO and the agent told me I had two PNRs for the trip (I had booked one of them thru a travel agency, but never paid for it -- and totaly forgot about it). She suggested that this was the reason I hadn't been upgraded automatically and so she MANUALLY gave me the upgrade. Pretty competent , isn't she?