Originally Posted by
TWA Fan 1
This said, I think it's very likely that every time a GA tells you "FC is full" he/she is telling you what the screen shows. Since most FC tickets are refundable, there is a greater incidence of no-shows than in Y. As a result, the computer bumps elites to FC to make way for Y stand-bys.
The GA wasn't lying here. If there are no gate readers at SAN, what likely happened is the OP got upgrade at the 3-hour mark, and he was one of those people in F, and had already checked in, making "first class has checked in full."
I don't know if the GAs realize how stale someone's BP can be, but you are particularly vulnerable at stations without gate readers.
If you are flying from a station without a gate reader, be sure to reprint your BP when you arrive at the airport, and if possible, monitor your record online just prior to boarding.
CO's gate agents are not terribly cooperative in checking for upgrades, which happen quite often after someone has checked in.
As for your IAH experience, that was a classic "battlefield upgrade," but the GA had not yet had the opportunity to tell you about it.