LOL. Rogue gate agents at work here. (j/k) As you said, "not with me." I think gate agents such as fastair are totally justified in bypassing W fare 1Ks because the 1P on a YUA pays more than the 1K on W on that particular flight, but the computer, as of March 2006 when I left United (and probably still) sorts by status first, and fare 2nd. That's the way most agents do it in my experience, and the way all my supervisors @ IAD told me to do it, too. But aside from the established system of awarding op-ups by status, I do know some gate agents bypass status and go by full fares. It's not unreasonable. And fastair, aside from being a good friend, is a top notch agent. United doesn't really deserve him and many other awesome employees, actually.