Yesterday, I was on UA 421 EWR-BOS. This is an elite-heavy flight, with two pages of names on the upgrade list, but, lo! mine was at
#2 ! It was booked at 19/20 and checked in at 18/20 for a long time, because it was delayed. At T-20, Mr.
#1 was cleared, and Mr. 19/20 apparently checked in, as the board was showing Full/Full, and I was left high and dry. Prior to that, I had been watching the list closely since I was in E- and wanted a softer seat to nap. The thing that makes the situation odd is that this flight's departure was delayed by nearly two hours (scheduled 8:30 PM departure, actual 10:20 PM departure although the board showed 10:05 up until boarding began at 9:50).
So, did Mr. 19/20 really check in that late? At EWR where getting through security alone needs at least 20 minutes? Or did something else happen? Now it's a short flight and I napped in E- just fine, so I'm mostly curious because I don't have a good explanation for what happened. Any ideas?