Let's not forget that DL offers comp upgrades to elites.
Originally Posted by yettie10ff
I am looking at a flight leaving IAH for ORD next friday at 1:25 and only 3 out of 14 first class seats are occupied. Basically just wanted to see if silver's ever get upgraded or if its always filled with gold and platinum.
Welcome to Flyertalk! One of the few things you'll learn about being an elite is that the seatmaps tell nothing about the number of First Class seats available for upgrades. For all you know, there could be many more people booked into first class, but without using ITN or the KVS Availability Tool, you have no way of really knowing what your upgrade chances are. Continental dispenses upgrades from a (quasi-)hidden "R" class. If the number of seats available in the "R" class is high, then your upgrade chances are also high. If it's 1, 2, 3 or even 4, as a Silver, your upgrade chances are likely low.