And it seems to me that my upgrade success is inversely proportional to the fare I pay. The higher the fare the less likely I will get an upgrade. MVP Gold. I usually buy my tickets 5-9 days before I go. I have pretty good success at getting upgrades on my K, T, R fares but am 0% on my H, B and Y fares. On a Y fare this coming Tuesday SEA-IAH and no upgrade yet with them selling at least 2 F seats still. On my last H fare DFW-SEA 4 people were upgraded at the gate and I was #5 . And I've been stuck in more middle seats on the more expensive fares. At least they have been Premium Class or Exit row.