Dawdler
His argument was that club was always full and there was plenty of room further back
Not these days. Carriers have cut capacity and tweaked ticket management systems to oversell sufficiently to get 90+ load factors. Further, with pax choosing own seats online, there is zero choice at check-in.
I recall one trip across the Pond which was very lightly loaded (it was a brand new route and more ten years ago) where there were a lot of places to stretch out. I had my eye on one bank of four seats - (A340), reckoning to move over as soon as we reached crusie and the belt signal went out.
We were still in initial climb out (no more than three mins after rotation) when all the 18/20 year olds, unbelted and dived into the banks of empty seats and re-belted. It happened in the blink of an eye and all the groups of seats suitable for sleeping - were gone!
Getting two seats together is lucky, so I buy a bigger seat. These days, it's usually buy a Y with cash and then upgrade to PE with FFMs.