On my flight this morning -- 2.5 hours on an Oasis 738 -- I was seated in 9C (MCE) and at T-10 the passenger seated in 6B (FC) retrieved his baggage and left the plane. The GA offered an upgrade to the passenger next to me in 9B but he declined the upgrade! The GA left the plane and did not return to upgrade a different passenger. The flight ended up leaving with the seat empty. There were 40 people on the upgrade list, and the flight ended up being delayed 30 minutes at the gate to resolve a maintenance issue.
So my questions -
1. Do any of you have a scenario in which you would elect to remain in a middle seat (even if in MCE) instead of accepting an upgrade? I admit I have declined an upgrade on a flight where FC has almost no benefit (sub-hour flights without meal service, and already comfortably seated in an aisle seat).
2. Was the GA supposed to upgrade
#2 on the upgrade list? Or was there a difference because the seat had been occupied? They did end up boarding an additional MC passenger during the delay.