Originally Posted by greenery

My father, who use to fly alot years ago, always told me that he had friends working for the Airline as a Gate Agent who upgraded him to Business or First Class because they knew and liked him. That might of been a story of a simplier time in Air Travel, or maybe not.

I always wondered if the Gate Agent can actually push the right buttons on his/her computer to upgrade their "friends or relatives" who bought a coach class ticket. Can this be done?