Maybe this glitch has been recently fixed, which is why they've been making sure to tell me each time that "it will be cleared at THEIR status level, not yours."
Because I swear last year I was on the phone to Air NZ. I was going to switch to RUs for my parents and I was told this explicitly. I had also been told previously, but that was the time it stuck out to me the most since I was told specifically that APD upgrades clear at a higher level than their status.