Originally Posted by c_stanley

In all fairness they do this. It's a little more tricky in places but don't forget that the basic rule is that you pay more, you do indeed get into first class. It's called a first class ticket, and it is a time honored way of rewarding the highest paying passengers.

Upgrades are really another thing entirely. An earlier poster said nobody valued upgrades more than he did, and you can take that to the bank. My suspicion is that if you went to the bank you'd discover large numbers of people buying first or business class tickets outright that were ahead of you in this hypothetical line.