It never hurts to ask

I flew home recently for family matters. On the last leg of my flight down, I noticed the plane was nearly empty. Once everyone was on board, I walked up to the head stewardess.

me – “So, would it be ok if I grabbed one of the empty first-class seats to stretch my legs?”
her, quizically – “And exactly why should I let you move up to first class, and not the other 15 people on the jet?”
me – “Well,” slight pause, “because I thought to ask?”
her, smiling – “good enough”

Into the flight, after taking care of her steward duties, she came over and sat down next to me. She told me she had heard nearly every excuse imaginable, “I’m a frequent flyer”, “I had a bad experience with your airline before”, etc. The fact that I wanted to sit there ‘just because’ and didn’t present her with entitlements was novel to her.

As an aside, when she came by offering drinks, I declined anything beyond what I would have received in coach. I figure I paid for the right to a seat on the plane and coach-class sevice. Since I spent my karma on the seat, why chance it with the amenities.