I flew last week from DTW to IAH and the last two rows of 1st were empty. I know b/c at the last minute they upgraded a NW Elite to the seat next to mine and she promptly fell asleep on me. I moved, looked over my shoulder, stood up and asked the FA if I could move to the last row of 1st. She said we could ALL spread out, and as I took my seat in row 4, I asked the FA how could there possibly be free seats on this flight. I don't always get upgraded on this route and it's usually a guessing game until I get to the counter, so I found the empty seats odd.

She told me that there might be Elites in back BUT the GA should've upgraded them if there were. I'm remembering that in case I miss an upgrade in the future. For the record, there were about 6 people in 1st Class. The back seemed pretty full, but how can we tell who is Elite or not? I've only once before ever flown in such an open 1st Class cabin.