A few days ago i flew FCO-CLT in an almost sold-out flight. A couple of days before departure the seat map showed 3-4 seats in Y and half of the Envoy empty.

Since it was a 10h flight and i had a meeting the next morning, i called and used a CP cert to upgrade my ticket to Envoy. Arriving at the gate i found out that Y was sold out and that there were a few passengers on standby.

I have no regrets for using the CP cert as i wouldn't like to risk getting stuck in Y, but i have a couple of questions:

1. If i had waited, given that Y was oversold, would i have received a complementary upgrade anyways as a CP (assuming that there was noone with higher status on the flight)?


2. If i were to receive a complimentary upgrade, this would happen at the gate or should i receive an e-mail prior departure?


3. Now the more tricky one: US has a flight from FCO to PHL departing 50 minutes after the CLT flight. That flight was not full. Is it more likely to upgrade an elite on the CLT (earlier) flight or just move the standby passengers to the PHL flight?


I am just trying to understand how US handles international upgrades. Since there is no substitute for experience in these cases, your input is greatly appreciated!!