This thread keeps on veerying onto various topics related to LMUs and upgrades but I think the crux of what was raised is still valid and has not been answered by anyone.
Specifically, in the original thread when LMUs were introduced and there were a whole bunch of questions Andrew stated on June 6, 2009:
"I don't have a problem answering the questions. This last minute paid upgrade program is not related to upgrade certificate upgrades in any way. All this is based on someone making the comment that if there is I class for a flight, then for sure this will be offered - this is simply not true, you guys are more than welcomed to test this out on your flights. Our revenue management department will determine what flights will be available for this and passengers will be offered this option when they OLCI or kiosk check in. They are well aware that one of the ways our tier passengers can access the J cabin is to use their upgrade certificates, so let's not start any rumors or theories that we will not clear I class but instead try to sell the cabin with this program and keep our tier passengers from upgrading (which is not true). This is simply just another way for our passengers to access the J cabin and is really no different than the J seat sales that we have sometimes (including the very attractive one that we had last week - example: $599 for YYZ/YVR, $299 YYZ/MCO, $399 YYZ/LAS). If anything, you guys should see this as a positive such that if you ran out of certs and this happen to be offered on your flight, this is another way that you can get into the J cabin.
The bolded part is where I believe the general FT understanding that AC will clear R class (then known as I class) before offering LMUs came from.
Now, the OP has provided pretty conclusive proof that LMUs were offered on his flight prior to u/g list space being cleared. I think that whether or not he ultimately would have been u/g'ed is not the whole point. The fact is that if LMUs are being offered prior to u/g list being cleared then that is likely to 1) decrease the chance of a successful u/g to some extent and therefore further diluting benefits and 2) may add a certain "element of stress" as I am sure we all prefer to be u/g prior to OLCI as opposed to at the gate 20 minutes before takeoff - this of course assumes that AC is holding J space pending OLCIs that it otherwise would have given confirmed u/g, fact is we don't really know.
So I think what many of us want is simply a clarification. Was Andrew wrong? Was he right at the time and has the situation changed? Or is what Andrew stated true but there is a bug in the system? Or is it something else entirely - did we misinterpret Andrew's statement? Looking at Andrew's statement one could also see that the general FT community may have missinterpreted what he said. It seems that many here think that Andrew's statement means that essentially upgrade requests are supposed to trump LMUs, where in fact if you read Andrew's statement carefully all he said is that LMUs will not eat into R space. So for example if a flight is R=3 and someone purchases an LMU it will not become R=2. What Andrew did not say was that when R=0 and people are on the waitlist LMUs will not be offered.
Despite all the directions this threat has gone, I think a clarification re: the above is what a lot of us are looking for.
AClover