Last week I flew HNL-SNA on a mileage award. After offering to be placed on the bump list and discussing a wrong seat assignment on the LAX-SNA leg of my trip I asked about upgrades. I was told no operational upgrades were being given and then the wonderful agent told me to wait just a second. She then handed me a new boarding pass with an E+ seat in an exit row! ^ What a great employee, I was flying alone and this really made the red-eye comfortable for me. Just goes to show that upgrades are possible for infrequent flyers like myself. Good luck.