I rarely if ever fly United but had to today. The flight was short and I had a seat all the way near the back of the plane. It also wasn't a very full flight.

I was about to board and I asked the guy scanning tickets if I could sit wherever I want since the flight isn't full. He said yeah I don't care. Then he printed out a new boarding pass for me and upgraded me to first class. I was pleasantly surprised.

Does this kind of thing happen often? I mean the flight was only 32 minutes but to get a first class upgrade with no status at all seems pretty darn cool. Maybe I should fly United more often if this happens a lot.