Passengers travelling in PE now get access to a Serviceair lounge (this has been introduced during the last 6 months, I believe).
By the way, passengers can get upgraded from economy to Upper Class (that has happened to me on a LHR-LAX flight), but it is very, very rare. We were incredibly late checking in for our flight (some car park mix up - thanks Thomas Cook and BCP! - on Boxing Day), but some really lovely check-in agent found us the last two seats on the plane (which happened to be in Upper Class)....
Still UKDEB is correct, you are much more likely to get a an upgrade from PE (apparently this is common on the Gatwick to Orlando route - since very few business travellers use this route...). Beware, though, being upgraded to Upper Class can led to you spending hours searching the internet for bargain UC fares... (is another £400, over PE, for Upper Class worth it??? Depends how spoilt you are...)
As to weather PE is worth it, that is very subjective:
- are you tall?
- is sleep on the return flight fairly important to you?
- do you have a large family (cost can be inhibitive)?
- do you like being treated more like a human being (rather than a piece of cargo)?
- do you have spare money (what would you have to give up to have it - it isn't worth going into debt for!)?
There will probably be less kids in PE than in regular economy (and those kids that are in PE, are in less close proximity to you!), but there will be kids. There were on the LGW-MIA route I flew last year and there will be even more on the Orlando route.
Don't feel peer pressure to book PE. Concentrate on enjoying your holiday.
Boo