Currently on UA817 AUS-EWR in F. As boarding was in progress, I overheard the FA telling the gate agent to not upgrade people because there weren’t enough meals. I heard something along the lines of, “There are only 12 and not 14 so don’t upgrade the last person.” The gate agent agreed and we went out with I believe 19/20 in F.

Now, if I’m #1 on the upgrade list and F goes out with an empty seat because of a meal shortfall I’d be annoyed for a couple reasons: 1) the flight is longer than three hours so there is the hot food option from Y and 2) not everyone in F opted for the meal so the shortfall was irrelevant.

Having watched this in action, it seems like the FA and GA chose the laziest route available to them. What’s the actual policy for such situations?