Originally Posted by QRC3288

Here's how it works. Hope this helps.

The Asia Miles waitlist gets first dibs on awards....but it clears at midnight I believe the night prior to departure.

Then, there is a second waitlist called "Instant Upgrade" at the airport. It is the identical concept and cost to us - we burn our Asia Miles to upgrade a cash ticket, at the same rates we would if we were cleared earlier - except it is first come, first serve at the airport to AM members, with elite ranks trumping (ie DM>GO>SL>GR>AM no status) regardless of when you show up. This has led folks like myself )who often try to burn our AM for F upgrades) to whinge because the first list clears. Sometimes I was #1 in front of a DMs on the waitlist, but I often show up at the airport (particularly outports) at the last minute and I've been trumped by a DM who showed up earlier.

There is no "talking to" the two systems that I know of, because otherwise I figure I could get my damn spot on the Instant Upgrade waitlist if I was #1 on the long-term waitlist! However, although they don't talk to each other, no doubt CX can see the normal waitlist has xx members on it. If there are multiple AM people on the first waiting list trying to score awards, plus J is oversold, CX can probably make a reasonable assumption that F is going out full of MPCs, ideally via Instant Upgrades but op-ups as well if necessary.

All of the above said, sometimes I've been on the first waitlist and watched as seats were released into inventory, bypassing the waitlist. This is an annoying mistake in CX's system. MPC is supposed to contact us and I'm not sure all the technical details, but sometimes they simply don't get in touch and that inventory goes out as if the waitlist doesn't exist.