Originally Posted by
te36
Just curious if someone know what this "dark matter" is:
SFO/NRT - booked on Eco, upgrade waitlisted for Polaris. Asked for position in waitlist, didn't seem to make the cut, so upgraded to PE during checkin 24 hours before plane leaves. See myself on place #1 in waitlist. See 7 open seats in Polaris. Checking repeatedly during the 24 hours, and ca. 1 hour before takeoff seats start to vanish. Ultimately i wait boarding as the last person and finally i get notification - seems like i got the last Polaris seat.
But so.. what could this dark matter be that fills up these seats so late, and without showing up in the upgrade list - is there some other place i could look at to diagnose where it comes from ? I wanted to ask at the gate but they where so horrible busy and i didn't want to be left at the airport alone after i finally got the upgrade and they where about to close the door ;-)
There's a great attractor in UA's upgrade list that retards elites in their quest for moving higher on the list...
Fundamentally you were fighting a few factors - others who purchased into PE who were moved into J before you as well as folks who may not have been assigned seats already in J as well as, depending on the offers, taken out a credit card and bought the upgrade.
If you want to confirm while at the gate, be patient and stand before the gate agents and present yourself to ascertain how likely you were to get the upgrade - irrespective of their busyness.
David