The front cabin has really become a marketing tool for very frequent fliers and full fare coach ticket buyers(many carriers will put you in the cabin if you buy these). With the rare exception of professionals (lawyers, consultants, etc.),billing their clients for the seats, what you generally have are:

1. FF upgrades
2. Full coach tickets
3. Awards (includes mileage
just for the upgrade)
4. Overbooks
5. Non revs

The crew invariably gets a manifest which identifies who is what, and they often deal with the pax accordingly. The carriers have reduced the level of service to reflect the real customer base, all of which begs the question, "who would be crazy enough to actually pay for it"? The obvious answer is, not very many.