Originally Posted by WayMaker
b) When the above doesn't seem to work, I've had more than one agent say something like, "I can't seem to pull the e-cert out. Just forget it." In other words I get 1200 or 1400 miles from a 1000 mile upgrade. The agents seem relieved or not care. They have a bona fide paper instrument to file with their day's paperwork that supports the upgrade. So in some cases, these can turn into CR-1s. I wouldn't walk up to a PS flight and try that, but it's worked sometimes for me.
I've had this happen as well, ORD-SJC (1829 miles). I had filed for the UG with paper e-500s and then asked the GA to pull 2 e-500s and accept my VISA cert. She just quietly took my cert and I later discovered the e-500s were not pulled.