Because I prefer to have options I can exercise right up until I'm safely ensconced in my seat, and it's just as courteous to give the upgrade to someone I may be inconveniencing by asking them to move. Moreso, in most instances. And there's always the positive feedback of gratitude shown by my surprised upgradee . . .

By slavishly following bocastephen's rules, I wouldn't even be able to give the upgrade to my traveling companion.

Well, it's really not meant to be yours to dole out to others. It's for you, not yours to give to who you see fit.

Slavish?

Anyway, I didn't say you can't give your upgrade to a traveling companion - I said you should not give your upgrade to a total stranger so you can sit with a travel companion who did not get upgraded. If you want to sit with someone in Y, tell the GA you don't want your upgrade and will sit in Y - see if they can find a seat with, or near your companion (or trade when onboard), and let the GA upgrade the next Elite on the list.

Plenty of posters here have given their upgrade to a spouse and sat in the spouse's seat in Y - there is nothing wrong with doing that, and as any married person knows, it's probably better for your health and safety to let the wife sit in F.

+100

Please indicate the paragraph in CO's terms of service where I am required to turn my upgrade over to the next person on the list should I elect not to use it. Because if it's not defined anywhere, it's technically nothing more than a new seat assignment with slightly better food and free booze.

An upgrade is a gift from CO, to reward me for my loyalty. I flew the miles, paid the fare, checked in at the best time, etc. I didn't have to be polite to get it, and its receipt did not require me to be inconvenienced more than usual with modern travel. The guy behind me on the list obviously wasn't as loyal as I was, or he would've gotten the upgrade (to do with as he saw fit, of course).

There are plenty of arguments over in TravelBuzz concerning seat swaps, and the general consensus seems to be that you shouldn't request a swap unless you've got something better to offer. An upgrade would certainly be an ace in the hole in such a situation, eh?

1- how would You feel if you found out although you the next in line for the UP that you didnt get it but a person who did , in fact gave to it someone else who didnt have status? of course that can happen with a Plat Companion

2- Im trying to figure out a sit where a person will get stuck with a Y sit they dont want, if its a very late purchase most likely its a Y or B anyway and that means FC. Bout all I can think of is 2 people traveling together and not being able to sit next to each other or both in an aisle across from 1 another. Yet if purchased way ahead of the flight most likely this wont occur especially to an Elite. If its close to the flight date then most likely it will be a Y or B

So Im sure you can think of a couple of ways it might be needed, Im sure that case wont occur all too often if at all.

Yes, slavish. Your requirements seem to leave little room for interpretation, although the post to which I'm responding seems to be modifying your stance a bit.

My travel companion may not otherwise have any more "right" to the upgrade than a total stranger. If I may give the upgrade to such a travel companion, why not a total stranger? I'd get to actually sit with my travel companion, the person I've inconvenienced by requesting a seat swap gets rewarded, and perhaps most gratifying: offers a very personal "thank you" for the upgrade. The person behind me on the standby list is no worse off than he was before.

Leaving the upgrade in the GA's hands rewards only some anonymous elite who is unlikely to show appreciation to the individual directly responsible for their good fortune.

My wife would prefer to sit next to me, regardless of which cabin we're booked into; she's not a fan of flying. More unfortunately, we get to travel together only rarely and usually on short notice.

I'd be fine with that. I don't expect others to live by standards I wouldn't live by myself. And as a CO Silver, I'm quite accustomed to sitting in the back of the plane (although my run of luck so far this year has been darn close to amazing).

I'm not sure what you're asking here. The times where I might give up a seat in F for a seat in Y don't always include travel companions on the same itinerary; I may run into someone I know that happens to be on the same flight and wish to spend the flight time with him/her. In fact, in my case, this is more likely than having a formal travel companion.