Originally Posted by
nomore1k
... 2) At the gate on the one flight I wasn't able to upgrade on the last trip I had a long nice chat with the gate agent who told me that, with no AS status, I can request an upgrade as soon as I book the ticket (another GA was listening and nodding). ....
But the request may be waitlisted even if inventory is available (so effectively it is processed later, after the AS elite free upgrades have been dispensed). So the GA was right, just misleading as most would assume request = getting upgrade if available.