http://www.TravelsWithSheila.com Marine and I had such high hopes; numbers 8 and 9 on the Business Class upgrade list with 10 seats remaining was a longshot but still... Sigh. We sadly watched seats disappear as United Airlines travelers with higher status than us were upgraded. Into the bulkhead seats in Economy Class which are a good selection with plenty of leg room but Business Class flat recline seats would have been so wonderful. We'd already spent 2-1/2 hours in Economy on ANA, now 11-3/4 hours from Tokyo to Houston with an additional 2 hours from Houston to Chicago. Transiting through Houston was a nightmare. They do have Global Entry but then all Global Entry people were selected to have luggage x-rayed and they do not have TSA pre-clearance. Tell me again, why do we travel?