<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by FWAAA:
100% success as an EXP, with one exception: the inaugural flight last April, when, as the last passenger to arrive (late inbound connection), I was told my upgrade had not cleared and I was to board immediately. Turns out there were several empty seats afterall.</font>
I remember that. I don't know what those capacity management people were doing, but they opened up almost no C-class inventory. I called the EXP desk less than 3 hours before the flight, and they couldn't put my upgrade through.
At the gate, the ground staff tried to hustle me on board as well. I declined and went to the gate agents who were able to clear my upgrade immediately. Seems they put me in R-class, which is normally used on domestic 3-class flights.
So had you resisted the ground staff long enough to go to the gate agents, you'd probably get the same result.
What I learned from this is simple. Even when the EXP desk can't clear you, ask the gate agents nicely and see what they can do.