Originally Posted by
matthew64832
I believe you mean RP/RU, not R/O. I do believe if you are SWU waitlisted that it is possible for them to release RU (complimentary upgrade inventory) within the medallion window without releasing RP (swu/miles inventory) and you could receive a complimentary upgrade.
However, it does seem a bit strange that it happened after T-24 and after you checked in (I assume).
Yes, yours are the correct codes. I hadn't checked in and it cleared about T-23:50 actually. I hadn't experienced a complimentary upgrade when I've been on the certificate waitlist, so it was unexpected.
So that was one situation where getting on the waitlist early didn't do me any harm, but that was probably a fluke and so not a good example to base a strategy on.
I have always applied my SWUs as early as possible but I always had them to burn. I never got to the point that I ran out of them, so it never hurt me if one got used unnecessarily, i.e. when I would have gotten the complimentary upgrade anyway.
But that may be different with the RUCs, so the strategies that people have mentioned here are helpful.
One thing I have done is put myself on the SkyMiles upgrade list for times when I'm on a K+ fare. If it clears, then I haven't used a certificate for it. If it doesn't clear, then I would call back and get on the certificate list on the day of travel.