Update: it turns out the passenger names were at the bottom of the upgrade list which grew to 13 people before departure, so no luck at all with 3 cleared. Now that the trip is completed, I checked the itinerary again and the "confirmed" thing is replaced by "requested". However the swus were still deducted from my account. If they are not added back later I'll call.

Not sure if the "confirmed" was just a bug, or if I squandered the opportunity when I checked in after the status became "confirmed" but before ticket was reissued.