Originally Posted by ExplorerWannabe

I'm not worried about the upgrade but don't really see a place to put this anecdote so putting this out here just as a data point.

I am traveling with extended family to Europe next month. Most of the family is flying HNL-ORD-ZRH-BUD while I fly COS-DEN-ORD-BUD, departing a day later than them in order to meet up at ORD. I booked all the tickets (Premium Plus for everyone) in November once I got them to agree to dates and flight itineraries and then immediately submitted myself, my mother, my sister, and my brother for MUA upgrades. My mother is named as my MM Companion so got Gold status from that, my brother and sister have no status. I've got Platinum status for now, downgrading back to Gold for 2026.

My family was notified early Tuesday morning that they were upgraded for the ORD-ZRH legs. In the meantime, I am still #2 on the waitlist for upgrades on that very same flight (over 9 seats available in Polaris today). As I said, I'm not worried about the upgrade with the number of seats left in Polaris and the truly off-season time of year but I do find United's algorithm puzzling (amusing?).