ATL-DFW - FL124 (11:00 a.m., Thursday, March 18) - at -24:00 out, only one Business Class seat available. Rather than risk it, I cashed in four credits to secure that last seat.

DFW-ATL - FL110 (6:20 p.m., Sunday, March 21) - tried switching to standby onto FL116 (5:03 p.m.) but all seats were taken. Bad weather in ATL had all of the flights delayed so FL116 ended up leaving only 10 minutes ahead of FL110. Once switched back to my original flight, the GA automatically upgraded me without having to ask. I believe Business Class had one or two seats empty. There were also three crew members deadheading who were offered seating in Business Class upon boarding. The one seated next to me was a bit of an @$$. But that's another story.

ATL-RIC - FL248 (8:20 a.m., Wednesday, March 24) - checked in online at about -22:00 before flight. Arrived at the gate and checked in with the agent at -40 minutes - immediately upgraded. Plane pushed back with one or two open seats in Business Class.

RIC-ATL - FL245 (7:41 p.m., Friday, March 26) - checked in online at about -23:00 before flight. When I arrived at ticketing to check my bag, agent welcomed me as an Elite and told me that I was first in line for upgrade (based on online checkin sequence). Checked in with the GA at -40 minutes and was offered my seat of choice in Business Class. Plane pushed back with two open seats in Business Class.

I have to compliment the crew at RIC. Every time I fly out of there, their team is professional and consistently follows the upgrade policy as it's published. I guess it's the advantage of being a smaller operation. I look forward to the day when (if?) ATL operates just as smoothly.