Originally Posted by
JordanYVR
I had an interesting YBYL experience on AC123 on Friday. I was traveling with a coworker (both SE) and we were in 11 & 12 on the J waitlist (out of 40!).
The flight was 28/28 in J, and 23/24 in PY, so it didn't look good. At T-45, there were 2 no shows and the first 2 on the list were upgraded. The next person went to PY.
We decided to hang back just in case, as the GA said there were 6 people not on board yet. We eventually moved to 1/2 on the list as people boarded. At T-10, there were still 2 not on board, but they showed up at the last second and J was full. I asked the GA if PY had also boarded full, and he said yes.
When we got on board, there was one empty PY seat, and the app changed to 23/24 as the flight closed. I overheard the guy in the PY seat being surprised he had an empty seat next to him. I sat in Y on that flight.
Given the size of the waitlist, surely someone should have moved up to PY there? Was there anything I could have done differently? I boarded at T-9.
The big issue is knowing whether or not the seat is actually empty. They could be in the bathroom, visiting someone at another seat, etc.
If you're confident it's actually empty, just refuse to sit down until it's occupied. In these situations I don't even care if I get the upgrade, but SOMEONE deserves it.
Basically don't believe the GA :/
Sometimes it helps to be really clear what you want, and why you're waiting. But it sounds like you did that, and were still given incorrect information. You can try to see the boarding count by zone on their screen, as in your situation, there should have been 2 left in zone 1 (you two) and 0 in zone 2. Zone 2 can mean many things, but if it's not 0, there's a chance PY hasn't boarded full yet.