Vulcan:

It's worse than that.

Lets say today you decide to book a flight PBI-EWR and your trying to choose between flight 1080 and 1086 ITN shows the flight 1080 as F9 A9(with 20 open seats on this 757) and flight 1086 as F7 A7. You're looking to travel 4 days out. If they go with the automatic upgrades you have no way of knowing how many people of your elite level are already on flight 1080 making impossible for you to get an upgrade.

Lets say there are 14 platinums on 1080 and the they may automatically get upgrades 3 days out, leaving you in coach. At the same time 1086 may only have 2 platinums putting you 3rd on the list, with 7 seats, giving you a shot at FC.

With the current system you'd book 1080, knowing that if you call at 12:01 tonight, you are almost guaranteed an upgrade. When they go with the "less filling automatic upgrade" you get to sleep at midnight, resting soundly while some computer upgrades the people you didnt know were in front of you on line.

This is my big problem with the automatic stuff, you have know way of knowing who's in line in front of you. You could end up booking a flight that you'd have no way of getting upgraded and have no way of knowing it. Of course, until you wake up in the morning, having slept peacefully while the computer did it work, to find ITN says F0 A0 and you're booked in 11A