I'm silver and I get more upgrades than I would have expected. I typically fly to smaller regions from ATL and on the way out, I'm way down the list and the flight's usually oversold. But on the way back, I have a decent shot. My last 2 trips this month I was upgraded on the way back and it was done before I ever even got to the airport. I just see it on the app.
But my brother is a DM and since he's a consultant, he's on the consultant heavy routes and he's usually 20th or 30th on the list. So I think it is route dependent; but if you're silver, you're probably not going to get upgraded on any route where people would actually go to voluntarily. Although I did get upgraded once from PBI to ATL.
Originally Posted by
snark
As a gold I basically never get upgrades -- typically below 10 on the upgrade list, often below 30. It is hard to imagine that silver would ever get upgraded, even on off-peak routes.