I mostly do RJ and Intl travel, so rarely have the need for my regional upgrade certs. I'm on DL2021 (DTW --> PHX) tomorrow and there appears to be 5 first class seats available (3P/2F).

I called about a week ago and tried to use my cert. They said that no upgrades were available so they waitlisted me. When I look at the itinerary online for the seat selector, it shows the regular seat map and an additional tab where I can't select the seat. For that leg the upgrade wording is "Upgrade Requested" as opposed to the standard "Medallion Upgrade Requested".

I assume this will all be decided at the gate. Will I jump ahead of Diamonds, assuming that they haven't used certs? Or are they still ahead of me? Does the regional cert just jump me ahead of other Plats who may have paid a higher fare (I'm on a Q)?

Mostly just curious how this pans out. I may do stand-by for alternate flight if this doesn't look like it will clear.