the whole front cabin thing is an interesting subject. there is tremendous graft. a few weeks ago I overhead a hostess in an airline club at newark giving a guy an upgrade. she walks over to where he is sittng, gives him his new boarding pass...and a hug..then I hear her telling him what kind of cosmetics she wants for her and her kid (evidently the guy sells the stuff). forget upgrades out of DCA on US. between the corporate headquarters and all the government big shots (read: your elected representatives hitting them up), upgrade seats mysteriously evaporate. at the end of the day, you get your upgrade with a seat they couldn't sell. the cost to the airline is zippo..and as earlier said by philforest...you already paid for it with your prior business.