mnredfox, what flight were you coming in from for intl? I'm glad you got it fixed by calling, even though it was a long call.
The system will upgrade from the waitlist automatically, however it is not instantly as we've all noticed. In fact, I don't even know how often the sweep runs, since I've seen numerous occasions where I get an EF notice of Z available but DL hasn't cleared me yet, and I've also been cleared where I never got an EF notice and it remains Z0.
The biggest frustration and thing that drives me crazy is that there is still a vast majority of agents who have no clue how to properly enter an SWU, or even know that it is supposed to give higher priority for the airport upgrade list. Even more so is when an agent doesn't even enter the SWU cert number and redemption code in the PNR, which prevents it from being reissued even if you are cleared immediately while on the phone, and also prevents it from giving higher priority.