Originally Posted by
Reetmafreen
I had the same scenario on a LAX-LHR flight back in June. The W fare was only $100 more than the P fare. As I was going to submit a miles + copay request, I was tempted to upfare to the W fare to save on the copay and also save some miles, but a quick look on EF showed that my upgrade chances were abysmal, so I kept with the P fare. (We ended up around 10th on the list with only #1 clearing, so definitely a good call on that one on my part.)
I was #1 on a waitlist once, but the GA started processing from the middle, I confronted them and they said that they are processing current PE customers first. So, I think they may be using this hidden rule against the published priority criteria. It may make sense for them because it will free up the PE seats for sale or gate upgrades. In your case it was probably a good call, but you may have also been upgraded first, despite being 10th on the list. In retrospect you were definetely lucky as the trip is over and you saved your miles and cash, lol.