You've mentioned "free upgrades" a couple of times and I have to say that I am a status member and have never gotten a free upgrade, in the past seven years. That is to say, I've had to 'pay' for all of my upgrades with certificates or miles.

I've got no problem with the current upgrade waitlist procedures and even though it would personally be to my disadvantage, I could understand if fare paid was the first tie breaker, followed by status level, then the time added to the DM list, as UA does need to focus a lot of their benefits on the higher revenue flyer.