Originally Posted by xyzzy
I recall one Monday morning where the 7am EWR-SFO flight was (as I've seen many times) filled to the brim with elites. The gate agent, during an announcement about boarding only by row, held up the elite upgrade list. It stretched to the ground. Everyone grumbled and stood around waiting to board by row. During this process, new elite arrivals at the gate came to the front of the EA line every minute or so doing just what you describe. It got to the point that you could hear snickering each time a new 'volunteer' presented himself -- only to be denied boarding until the appropriate time.
I've had this happen a number of times now, more often on Northwest, strangely enough. One time the gate agent got on the PA and announced: While normally we would now invite our WorldPerks and partner elites to board, tonight we have 87 elites on board, and only 132 seats on the airplane, priority boarding would be pointless. We're sorry for the inconvenience.
Having those kinds of explanations is very nice while you are sitting there grumbling about missing out on one of your few perks. I wish CO would communicate this kind of information better, it seems to be one of their few weakness that really drives me batty.