With upgrade vouchers up the wazoo, ever notice that F is ALWAYS full, though Y may be practically empty?

When's the last time you were in F with an empty seat next to you? I am beginning to wonder whether the flight might be more relaxing if I could sit in empty Y with more attention as opposed to full F, where the FA's must hurry throughout the flight to serve meals, etc.

Mind you, I love my upgrades! And I would obviously choose F over a crowded Y cabin.

Before airlines had such generous upgrade programs (and yes, even though many are taking away opportunities, the fact that we have them at all is a blessing), were F cabins always so full?

More recently than you'd think!

The upgrades are a very interesting point, with a very interesting corrolary. It's very unnusual to get a "courtesy upgrade" out of AA or UA when flying to Europe. This is becuase everyone is trying like hell to upgrade, and there are almost always people waiting at the airport trying to cash in miles -- so the premium cabins always go out full.

This is very different from non-US carriers, where I've had great luck getting courtesy upgrades.

1K on United, LH provided courtesy upgrades from BOS 4 of 5 trips in 1998. As EXP on AA, CX has provided me with several. These aren't even the begging-the-agent kind. They're the "Oh wow, this boarding pass is for business class. How cool." variety.

But these days, when I'm flying, I always ask at check in how full it is in back. If I can get a row to myself, I'll drop out of F/C/J on most flights.

I have found it really depends upon the route and time of year. DFW/ZRH always runs full in J and F. I have seen other flights with half the J cabin empty. F on domestic flights seem to always run full due to the ability to upgrade with paid stickers just before check in--somehting you can't do for international runs.

Especially on late night flights, I'll take the meal in first and then find an empty row in the back and go to sleep. Much more peaceful.

I've also passed on an upgrade if I could get a row of three to myself in the back. Once the gate agent did me an extra favor and made it an exit row. Tray tables in the armrests, they didn't flip up - DANG! From then on I've checked carefully.

For some reason, at least in my experience, AA is full in front with space in back eastbound across the Atlantic but it's the other way around westbound. Eastbound, I've been waitlisted for mileage upgrades. Returning to the States, I get operational upgrades about a third of the time. Why?

Efrem: While not everything agrees, some people think a premium cabin sleep is more important on the overnight (eastbound) transatlantics and would rather sit in coach on the westbound (daytime) portion. Of course, this subject has been discussed before and there is much variety of opinions.

i much prefer the upgrade on the retun from europe. the flight is longer, and if the back is empty on the outbound, three seats in coach serve as a much better bed than one in biz. also, on the return, im awake to enjoy the bevy of entertainment options.