Originally Posted by
asya999
I don't think there was enough time for that to happen.
Sure there was. How long does it take to buy-up?
Originally Posted by
asya999
Are you saying they didn't have a chance to buy-up till the two upgrades into Polaris opened up?
It's possible, but it's not necessary. It could be a coincidence.
What I think happened is that they looked at the list, saw that they weren't going to be upgraded, and accepted an offer to buy up to PE. Whether that happened on the phone or they were in the middle of discussing it with the gate agent that the club agent called, I have no idea. The club agent wouldn't have been in any position to clear the upgrade list, so I'm not sure why she was trying to make space for you to sit together.
The fact that they vaulted to the top of the Polaris lists means that they didn't just process upgrades out of order -- it means that something changed their upgrade priority. The most likely thing that would have done that is a buy-up -- merely clearing an upgrade into RN would not have altered the Polaris list.