Originally Posted by
JoeDaejeon
I can't find any rhyme or reason as to why sometimes the op-up happens when I check in, but usually doesn't happen till the gate. It doesn't matter if it's transpac, within Asia, or elsewhere. Perhaps it's due to how full the flight is. If it's so full that they absolutely sure it's oversold, then I guess it makes more sense to op-up passengers early at check-in. But if they're not sure, then it makes more sense to wait. I generally check in quite early.
It really seems that YMMV on this one. Every single op-up I've gotten happened at check-in. Those were all oversold economy flights btw and it's only happened a handful of times in over 6 years (for reference, I'm regular D). That said, I didn't fly that much intra-Asia in the past, but have done more so lately and the frequency of op-ups has increased a lot. This matches what I've read on this forum in the past.