doh! i missed/forgot that i needed to use a kiosk... i checked in at SFO on a YUPAP3 fare yesterday, but i interacted with a human. my benefit was getting to fly in P, tho--the SFO-DTW flight was at P3 F0 when i bought my ticket eight days out.

i wouldn't have flown NW if i couldn't get that upgraded immediately, either, so yay YUP fares... it was nice to give NW the high-yield business after a few years of $300 first class transcons. see, loyalty programs *do* work.....