Originally Posted by ob1
I believe it is a list that starts with your fare class (more expensive tickets will egt priority) when you applied and your miles. Once at the airport the mileage you have overtakes the time you were added to the list (seen that repeatedly when a late show million miler shows up and beats everyoen out for an upgrade
WRONG. At the airport, the DM list is sorted by: Status, Fare Basis, and Time added to the DM. Mileage is NOT used to determine waitlist priority, and the anecdotal evidence posted above regarding a MM flyer is mistakenly taken to mean that the flyer's "mileage" is at play. Certainly, a 1K MM would show up and trump others with lower status, but 2 1K's will clear (if only one seat is available) based on the order I've mentioned in this post.
Best, Dave