I was thinking the same thing just now as I got an email saying that the afternoon ORD-PVD flight I booked at 3:00 this morning had been upgraded. 1K on a Q fare. They were trying to sell the upgrade to me at check in for $109 but at T-3 hours they cleared me and someone else off the wait list.

I've had very good success recently with upgrades clearing recently it seems. Seems like more flights are clearing at the 1K window, and I've even had some success with battlefield upgrades, including SDC/standby for earlier flights, which were almost unheard of at the old United.