The waitlisting has always driven me a little crazy. I've been platinum this past year, and I've been waitlisted for an upgrade many times. I usually pay the lowest price and then if I clear, they charge me the $450 or whatever it is. Recently I was waitlisted CDG-EWR on the 767 flight at 2pm, and there was only 1 seat left until a few days before I few. I thought it was impossible, but I got a note 2 days before the flight saying I cleared the upgrade list and was sitting in BF. That was pretty exciting, and it all worked out, but it does add undo stress wondering if you're going in the back or front...

Most recently I bought a ticket EWR-DEL. I was told the upgrade seats were available, and paid the higher fare class price plus some fees exchanging an unused ticket to Europe I had from the summer with the same fees ($350 1 way, $200 the other) so they matched the fare classes. All seemed good until I got my itinerary online and it said WAITLISTED on both flights. Surprise! That's not what they had said when I got the new ticket. What really stinks is that my sister is on the same EWR-DEL flight, got her tix a couple of days before me using a complete reward ticket, and got a BF seat at 45,000 miles the one way. I paid, cashed in 40,000 miles, paid the upgrade fee, and I find out I'm in the back. She's not even Elite. I just hope I clear and get to fly in the front with her.

So yeah, you do clear, especially as a Plat, but it's not too much fun waiting around to find out. My friend who flys AA seems to always get an upgrade without much fanfare or stress, but then again, they suck, and she knows that. But at least she's in a comfy seat...