Right. That's what I'm asking. As has been explained to me in this forum, there are 2 different upgrade lists. There's the one UA does not give customers access to, and that's the one that's supposed to start running 5 days out. That's the one that gives priority to folks on Y and B fares, and those using upgrade instruments.
But, according to the published rules, ANOTHER upgrade list opens at 24 hours. That's the "Airport Upgrade Standby List," that's supposedly used to fill the remaining first class seats at the gate. That's the list made available to customers on mobile.united.com, and the regular website. According to the website:
"As customers check in, they will be placed on an airport upgrade standby list. This standby list will clear after check-in is closed, and is based on Premier status and fare class."
http://www.united.com/web/en-US/cont...aspx#cpriority
So there are 3 possibilities here: 1) Despite widely accepted conventional wisdom, what's posted on the website is not the Airport Upgrade Standby List (this seems doubtful to me); 2) there are 19 other GS and 1K members who booked higher fare categories than me on the flight (I think this is a statistical improbability); 3) despite what the website states, certain pax with higher bucket fares are getting to the top of the Airport Upgrade Standby List regardless of their status (seems by far the most probable).
If it is indeed #3, status is even less valuable than I already thought.