Here is what happenend on the 2 H fare flights and why I think I did not get upgraded. I purchased the ticket three days before departure and did not get an EAU even though there were 7 of 24 seats still available for sale. I contacted the an individual at the platinum line two days before the flight since I did not get the EAU and she said not to worry that since I was on an H fare there should be no problem unless all the first class tickets were sold. She sais I would probably be first on the list if I did not get an EAU since they had just changed the day of departure upgrade to be based on fare class within elite level rather than check-in time within fare class. Usually I check in online almost 24 hours prior to departure, but since she told me this, and since I was at a hotel without wireless, I decided to check in at the airport. Unfortunately the new upgrade procedure did not take effect until mid-March, so when I checked in I was seventh on the list with 6 available seats and 6 people ahead of me. I assume all were platinum.

Obviously I was not too happy. I went to the service center at IAH and worked with someone who told me she had not heard of the new day of departure upgrade procedure. Well, after an hour of her trying to get to the bottom of things and her waiting for the GA to check in so she could tell him/her what had happended and to have him move me up the list, the system assigned the remaining 6 open seats to the 6 individuals ahead of me on the list.

Because of I was miseld on the new procedure, she upgraded me on my flight the next week.