Be aware that irregardless if position in the upgrade list, if they are upgrading folks after boarding ( due to misconnect or folks who checked in but didn’t show), then they will skip over miles and copay, and only do SWUs or 500 Mile, because they don’t have time to collect the copay. Doesn’t matter that you are Ex Plat and are entitled to a free one

i escaped this fate because it happened once before and I checked with the gate manager, after being informed by the gate agent if the policy. After registering my displeasure about being #1 in the list and told no chance because this was the policy, they miraculously came on board at T-25 and took my credit card. No doubt without the escalation I’d be SOL.

They should just waive the copay and process the list in order if it’s exec Plat. Doesn’t make sense to skip over#1 on the list to give it to someone else for free further down the list.