Originally Posted by
diburning
then he was rebooked, the upgrade list was already cleared on IAD-DEN, and my friend was put on the upgrade list. Since he was a displaced F passenger, he was #1 on the list and ended up clearing. Is there a reason why United couldn't just confirm him in F?
At the time of transfer to the new flight and waitlisted was there a seat for sale? Clearing could have been because of a no-show / misconnect / ... which freed up the last seat. If the upgrades had been run and there were enough eligible passengers, every seat would have been taken. Something opened up an additional seat and you friend, now on the list, got it.