I When I worked as a travel agent our motto in dealing with the airlines was always "if you don't like the answer they give you, say thank you for checking, hang up, and call back." Now, if I don't like the responsiveness of the res agent I just say - oh excuse me, I've got to go, I'll call back and then I try again for someone who sounds more customer oriented,

It is very easy for them to check which flights are avaialbable for upgrades - they just have to do a search by fare code and they can see what's available. Also, the avaialability does change over time so rechecking can pay off.