I have 140k miles on my frequent flyer account. On my last flight, I was in the only window seat on the airplane with a middle seat that was empty. The guy in the aisle was 6'7" and he was relocated to the exit row so he could fully descend into his seat. So I had an entire row to myself. Preference? I don't know, but it sure was nice.

the thing about the airline upgrades is that the price for premium seats is always amazing, amazing enough to leave some empty to give to executive beryllium, executive niobium, executive platinum, executive gold, executive palladium, oneworld aadvantage, twoworld disadadvantage, yada yada yada yada ...