We all have to operate within the parameters that exist. Right now as someone who knows and understands how the system works, based on experience and knowledge that can be found publicly (flyertalk), I'm behaving in a way that benefits myself the most, while following the established rules. I'm not hacking the site, and Alaska has been made aware of the issue and either cannot, will not, or just has not changed it yet.

Everyone else who was upgrade eligible on the flight today could have been sitting watching the time and attempting to check in exactly at T-24 like I did and hope for the "Upgrades Available" button. I was just the first to see it. I have no way to know who is the most deserving, and neither does anyone else.

This all could be fixed by not allowing any upgrades until the gate, but that lessens the perceived value of the upper tier status levels if upgrades all only happen at T-1.

There are many ways the upgrade process could run. That's what AS management is there for. The way it happens now is the current reality, we operate within that. If AS chooses to make a different choice, then we'll all operate within that set of rules.