felis -

you might have better luck than I did as a GM, but I was usually one of 10 or 12 GMs competing for 3 or 4 seats. I know what made the difference was my attention to the details and making the call at the right time. If I had relied on an automated system to do it, who knows how those remaining seats would have been distributed.

B/T/W - My _FIRST_ upgrade attempt as a SM was for a 5:30 am flight. I went online 24 hours before, and was told the waitlist was closed - I gave up. But the next day, as a lark, pulled up the delta website 90 minutes before my flight left. Not only was the waitlist open again, but there was a seat ready to be confirmed. If I hadn't checked, I would have done a trans-con to SFO in Y for no reason. Just goes to show that a lot of us probably wouldn't trust an automated system anyway...