Originally Posted by
btonkid12345
The problem is the system would likely clear the next person on the upgrade list into that empty seat before the OP calls to confirm the SDC.
Had a supervisor once try to reticket me in W. She took some automated remarks indicating the C+ upgrade out of my record and reissued it, and despite assuring me she would keep my seats, the deleted remarks reissued me in my original fare class, and gave away my (and last) aisle C+ to the next person on the upgrade list.
I appreciate DL protecting Medallions because auto upgrades to C+ and clearing comp upgrades before any standbys as Widgets said takes care of us. But I could see a regular customer buying W and being upset that the paid W doesn't come before complimentary W. I guess it is in rare cases like W standby such as this, that such an incident could occur.
The UG would only clear if WU is available, which is highly unlikely if the cabin was sold out at some point.
And as a data point, I have done this at least a few times, where I've seen a W seat open up when W was previously full, and called in as much as a couple hours later to snag it.