Originally Posted by
ckendall
For a slightly different datapoint: We missed a flight last week in paid domestic first and got rebooked in coach on a later flight. For whatever reason we were not visible on the upgrade list but the AAngel assured us we were at the top of the list. I got cleared at the gate before boarding and my partner got a battlefield upgrade after boarding had started.
That matches my experience. The Upgrade list you see on the app is not a complete list of everyone waiting on a first class seat. Even if you're #1 in the app someone might be lurking in a separate queue to trump you.