Originally Posted by
entropy
how do you figure? there's almost never space to upgrade into anyways.
That may be true for upgrades at time of ticketing, but at least so far, UA hasn't done anything to upgrades clearing on day of departure. Aside from some seats being taken for cash upgrades at time of check-in, UA still will release every available premium-cabin seat for upgrades at the gate, and will fill them until the upgrade list is empty, even upgrading a no-status passenger before a single non-rev gets seated in those cabins. Contrast this with some non-US carriers, that "protect the integrity of the premium cabin" by limiting upgrades, keeping paid passengers that want to upgrade in economy while premium seats fly empty (or with a non-rev in them).