I don't know about begging but I know someone who once purchased Y tickets for a family of four, then upgraded all with miles to J. Once at the gate the whole family was op-upped to F.

You'll hear several responses here - basically there are two conditions required: heavy loads in which they need the J or Y seat for a paying customer and status on the part of the person being upgraded. If they need to move someone from J to F they will choose higher status over lower status.

In my example above it was high tourist season and the person was EXP. If it's Feb. and you are GLD I wouldn't hold my breath.