Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: HEL
Programs: AY Platinum, TK Elite, BT VIP, AA, BA, SK, DL, NT, WB + hotels
Posts: 8,752
Yeah, no waitlisting for non-status members. In this case, my suggestion would be to book the flights you want, preferably as far out as possible, and then call AY during Finnish office hours. Be nice, ask nicely and Janica might contact "the other department", ie revenue management. If it doesn't work, try again later.
I have an upcoming booking HEL-LHR-HEL in March 2019, and the app shows both ways upgradeable.