Originally Posted by
BHammy
My understanding is that the standard upgrade policies still hold in place - with Medallion Status being the premier deciding factor. I looked into this and asked about it when booking trips to TPE and SYD this year.
MrsBHammy dropped to PM this year, but had 4 GUCs to use by mid July. We booked her into PS on the way to TPE, applied a GUC for her and I to go D1, I (being the DM) cleared at the gate with the last D1 seat (she got the seat up front).
According to the upgrade rules, if another DM, in coach had a GUC applied direct to D1, they would have been second in line.
It's noticable that when booking a PS seat on int'l, that the domestic segments only 'clear' into C+ - which PM and DM get anyway. So PS is seems to be the int'l equivalent of C+.
According to the various details
here ("what to know about being on the waitlist" being the most relevant section), before the gate, the clearance hierarchy is medallion status, then time of request, so in theory it doesn't matter if you bought PS if your upgrade clears in advance. Then at the gate, the order becomes the same as complimentary medallion upgrades, in which case fare class is the first tiebreaker after medallion status and having bought PS would in theory help you. But in either case, medallion status is supposed to be the first factor being considered.