Weatherboy said "....best left empty to preserve the value of the seat". Well said. I can tell you I've talked to several mid/high level people in IAH and they all espouse this philosophy, that is to say that they want to keep the seat and atmosphere/service something special that people will pay big bucks for. I understand this philosophy and it makes sense. Someone paying $8,000 for a RT to HKG should feel special. The trouble is, like FTers, these people are pretty sharp and not stupid. They are very astute at putting 2 and 2 together when they see smiling non-revs and their families move up to empty BF seats when the door closes and if it were me, I would not like it. I can guarantee I can spot 90% of these non-revs using just the techiques described in this thread. You are not "preserving the value of the seat" when you allow this practice!

You can also say Revenue Control is to blame and of course they bear most of the blame for the situation. However, somebody at a pretty high level made the decision to allow non-revs to 'upgrade' at the last minute, probably as suggested a perk for hard working employees. This same person obviously did not calculate, or ignored, the effect this would have on HoKeY lottery players or those who paid big bucks for thier seats.

I am not saying that hard working, generally low paid, employees don't deserve perks. The trouble is, this one really, really presents just the wrong immage. At a time of layoffs and turmoil, image is everything, and, IMO, employees should not have this a a perk. Its just the wrong one at the wrong time, once again IMO.

Finally, I need to say that I have enjoyed this thread. It has stayed 'civil', and not gotten into flame wars as some threads that are emotional topics like this one have gotten. This is what Flyertalk should be all about!

[This message has been edited by Vulcan (edited 10-26-2002).]