I'm not usually one to call shenanigans, but I can't find a good explanation for what happened to me on UA 960 (EWR-FRA) last night.
On my way to the gate at T-60 I was happy to see that I was
#1 on the Polaris list, with one open seat. Boarding was a bit delayed, so I approached the gate agent about it and he told me that he'd clear upgrades at about T-15 and that I should just board and he would find me on board. A second gate agent, who confirmed that I was at the top of the list, added that they were having some issue with this last seat because the captain was insisting that he maintain access to it (does the 787-10 have a crew rest area?), and that without access to the seat he would not be flying the plane (GA's words, not mine). She said they were working to resolve the "issue" and that they would come on to upgrade me. So, I go ahead and board and a few minutes after boarding I refresh the app to find out that someone else (FLA, J) has been upgraded into the last remaining seat (10F).
I have a screenshot that shows me at the top of the list at T-50 (so after the minimum check-in time), with one seat remaining. I also have a screenshot from ~T-25, when I refreshed the app that shows one more person upgraded, and me still at
#1 .
Reviewing what I can from the upgrade lists that I have, it looks as though FLA, J had cleared into Premium Plus (or was booked into PP), but was not in the top 9 of the Polaris upgrade list.
Any thoughts on what happened here??