(1) By the time I arrived at DFW - literally right as they were beginning to board - there were others on the upgrade list and some of those didn't get it.

(2) I know I could have gone early, physically checked in at DFW (outside security), and gotten the F seat. When I'm going the other way - MCI-DFW - I usually have time to do that as I'm always in the terminal at about 40-45 minutes prior to departure. This time, I didn't want to risk it: sold out flight, last flight of the day, I knew I'd be entering the terminal right at 30 minutes prior to departure. I was worried that I'd get the "You didn't check in ontime so we gave your seat away" response.

My main question is: isn't there some way to print a BP that says "Seat assigned at gate"? Something to get me through security when the seats are under airport control?