I had an interesting`way of being upgraded on Tuesday. I was first on the upgrade list for LAX-AUS, but checked with the Admirals Club AAngels right before heading to the gate and was told first was checked in and full, and expertflyer also showed J0. Figured I wasn’t going to be upgraded. Board in group 2 and settle in to my seat in 15D, which I was lucky to get as the flight was booked just a few days ago.
I’m reviewing my return flight and refresh my app while sitting in my seat and notice that my current flight’s seat became 3A, so it was obvious someone didn’t make the flight and I was going to be upgraded. Awesome! I’ll wait here until the GA comes in and hands me my new boarding pass.
Well instead of waiting to get my new boarding pass, a girl walks up about halfway in to boarding, shows me her boarding pass and tells me she’s in 15D and I’ve been moved up front. So now She’s stuck in the aisle with her luggage, I can’t move up the aisle towards first since people are still boarding and I have to get my luggage anyway. So now it’s a game of people squeezing down the aisle past this girl since she didn’t want to go to the back of the plane and wait. Finally after the aisles cleared (or so I thought), I grab my luggage, give up my seat and move forward. Having to slide past the occasional straggler still boarding.
I get up front and ask the FA’s if they have room for me to put my luggage, looked at my with a confused look and said no, you’ll have to put your luggage in the back, then asked me where I’m supposed to be sitting. I told them I was upgraded to first and they looked at me with a confused look again and then opened up a compartment that only had one bag in it to let me put my bag in. While I was sitting in 3A I could over hear one of them asking why I moved up to 3A to the other FA, who replied that she guesses I was upgraded.
First time that a post-boarding upgrade has happened like that and really strange that the GA didn’t wait until everyone else boarded to let on the person who took my seat, and that I never was told I was upgraded outside of seeing it in my app and being told by the person who took my seat.