Originally Posted by
LIH Prem
It's always been like this. If you use miles, CR1 or a confirmable form of upgrade and your upgrade doesn't clear outside your window (100 hours for 1k, etc), you can switch to a non-confirmable form of upgrade, provided you are otherwise eligible to do so. I've always been able to do it, many gate agents ask if you want to switch. In fact, I did it on the outbound flight of the same itinerary because the agent asked, and at least one other recent Hawaii flight when the GA reminded me I could switch. For some reason I always end up with more e-500s than I can use, and many of them usually expire and convert to miles (yes, some of us can do that too.)
Is this true? This is not my understanding, and I'd hesitate to bandy the word "liar" around based on what might be a misunderstanding.
My understanding is that to change upgrade instruments, one needs to leave and reenter the upgrade list. If one confirmed within the window, the effect of this - in most cases - is to immediately clear when added again. However, this is not guaranteed (imagine that a dozen GS's entered the upgrade list between the time you clear and the time you request).