Originally Posted by
clarence5ybr
Well, many of us think it's not a waste. DL used to close the UG list when it got to a certain number. There's a big problem with doing that, though.
Suppose there are five open seats in F, and list is closed when it reaches 25, because there doesn't seem to be any point in keeping the list open--there are already 5x more people on the list than there are open seats, right? But suppose a PM on a Y fare asks to be put on the list, and is told "Sorry, you can't be put on the UG list--it's closed".
That's completely unfair to that person, because their status and fare class would have a very good chance of putting them in the top five on the list. There were several reports on FT of people who had good shots at a UG if they had been added to a list, but were told the list was closed.
So, keeping the list open seems like the most fair thing to do, and I'm glad DL does it.
This exact thing happened to me last month. I took a voluntary bump of my ATL - LAS flight because they changed the equipment and I was stuck in a middle seat in the back. I said I would rather not take this flight and put me on the next flight out. I don't mind hanging around the airport and getting some work done. Of course she accomdated me, because I was in V and due to seat config change I was bumped to the back. She rebooked me in Y class. The next flight out there were 5 seats avaliable and I wasn't even on the list of 32 names. I went to GA and had her put me on the list and lo behold I became number 1. Of course I got the upgrade plus the bonus miles.