My father flew extensively in the 60s and 70s and still has United and Pan Am million-mile flyer luggage tags. He also flew extensively on TWA and JAL. In appreciation he was given, along with my mother, lifetime memberships in United's Red Carpet Club, Pan Am's Clipper Club and TWA's Ambassadors Club. Of course, Delta bought out Pan Am and continued to honor his lifetime Clipper Club membership by giving him a lifetime Crown Room Club card.

As to upgrades, he tells me that if you wanted to fly first, you paid for first - no freebies. Only employees were entitled to fly upfront without paying. He had no problem with that. One exception was Western, which would always upgrade him when he checked in at the airport if there were seats available.

As for business class, I believe Pan Am was the first to introduce a buffer between first and coach/economy and christened it Clipper Class. Seats were the same as coach, food was also the same as coach although you had a better appetizer, wine was complimentary and you had free movie headsets.