First choice: someone young, cute, warm, chatty, and available who has a fetish for somewhat mature guys with love-handles, and has no evening plans for the duration of my business trip.
Second choice: an empty seat

Whilst there are guys/girls I'd love to converse with (Paxman being a good example) I suspect that I might not be their first choice of seat companion. They're probably looking for exactly the same First Choice as I am.