Originally Posted by
extramileage
I'm not sure how automated these are, so I would recommend calling from time to time to just to see if things have opened up in F on the flights you're interested in.
I ended up DM'ing Emirates on Twitter. They said that I'm on a 'priority' waitlist and that as soon as a seat opens, the system will automatically hold it for me so I can then confirm. So, this does seems like a legit, automated waitlist process.