Originally Posted by
canadiancow
Why was it done "at the last minute" ? The second the GA ends boarding, the computer should be able to figure out if anyone needs to be moved up, and do it by status.
The fact that this is done on board at all just shows how crappy their whole system is.
And I've seen W/B upgrades given out before boarding even starts, so it's not like they can't do it at the gate.
As others have mentioned, sometimes they know in advance there will be a w/b issue, while sometimes they need to make last minute adjustments. I've had two w/b op-ups on E90's over the years; one at the gate, and one onboard just before departure. Seems like they do handle them at the gate when they know in advance there will be an issue.
When they do them onboard, I'd hope that they still use the same sort of prioritization that the gate agents usually do, and try to reward higher status pax, but it sounds like it's a bit more difficult to prioritize onboard.