Originally Posted by
ezefllying
The agent in EWR did not show me the list, and I didn't ask.
I would be surprised by your theories, which would normally make sense, because:
- Business was fully booked beginning the night before, and stayed full. The last passenger to clear was upgraded while sitting on the plane by a GA. So I doubt a lot of people jumped onto my flight to get upgrades.
- The only other flight around or after ours from LAX to EWR was a 9 PM redeye, seven hours later. I'd be surprised that at least six 1Ks (or people with a GS friend) made the switch from Premium Plus on that flight to the 1:30 PN departure somewhere between 45 and 120 minutes before our flight. The guy who got upgraded on the plane was with his wife. Possible, but that sort of jumping around seems more like something I'd see on a Thursday SFO-LAX.
- To jump onto our flight in Premium, they would have had to book into O class, which was the only fare class available. And there were only 5-7 seats available for sale in O in the morning.
I just don't think that six 1Ks jumped onto our flight in Premium Plus and then listed for an upgrade in that 75-minute window, or we're already in Premium but decided simultaneously to list for upgrades then.
The challenge here is there doesn’t seem to be any evidence of foul play. EWR/LAX is a tough upgrade, second to probably EWR/SFO. The upgrade list gets shuffled all the time, with names appearing and sometimes vanishing. You just had bad luck on a hub-to-hub route with many GS/1ks. The fact that you were number one on the list so close to departure is pretty amazing and almost spooky!