That's the theory. Actually, in practice, it's not similar. DL doesn't upgrade AS elites until ~30 minutes before departure at the gate. I have yet to hear anyone report a confirmed upgrade in advance of this.

AS, on the other hand, has been reported to upgrade DL elites as early as 48 hours before departure.

This has been the cause of some stirrings of discontent as AS treats DL elites better than DL treats AS elites.