Happened to me multiple times. The most recent one being HNL-SFO.

Re-2 passenger upgrade.

Several years ago, I would selectively book instant-upgrade fares on a companion pass and reliably get upgraded. Not any more, but still have managed to get screwed by serial release of single seats a handful of times, including on a B fare while I was 75K and sitting at #1 and 2 on the upgrade list for 3 seats inside T-24. That one stung.

I don't have much experience outside of AS. Are public upgrade lists standard for all airlines? Could anyone see AS just making the list private in order to eliminate the complaints and poor experience? Not saying I'd like it or that it's a good idea... just thinking of how AS might "solve" the problem (since getting the IT straightened out doesn't seem to be imminent).

UA published upgrade lists as well.

What's the rationale behind taking someone "off" the upgrade list once they've been upgraded? The system keeps people who have been upgraded to premium on the list, but removes the first class upgrades, despite already having a graphic system in place to differentiate the two. I would hope for better transparency!

I don't think AS wants anyone to know what price point your follow passenger paid to get the F seat. How would you feel if you paid more than 5 times for a honeymoon trip, when a person sitting across the aisle got the F upgrade from a G fare. If shared, high $$ passenger may demand higher level of service than the upgradees. With this information vague, AS can treat everyone equally.

Jiburi

Flight recently I noticed that couples were bypassed on upgrade list.

T24 had 4 seats available for purchase.

at T3 at least number 12 on upgrade list was no longer present and the top 10 remaining on list were all same name last name pairs. Including 1-2 on list which at T24 was 2-3 on list. 3-4 on list was 5-6 on list at T24

While this may be the actual answer, I think it's a terrible answer. Protecting the feelings of paying F passengers and in turn providing a worse service to frequent fliers with status? That makes no sense.

An interesting one in my favor this time. JFK-SEA booked with companion cert in V fare. Both of us are 100K. SDC from an earlier flight. #3 and #4 out of 35 on WL with 3 F. I had come to expect none of us would get the upgrade since the upgrade professor would skip us after upgrading #1/2, leaving only 1 F available.

Upgrade professor ran at T-22. #1 was upgraded as expected, but we also got upgraded against all odds. I even had plenty of time to pick a meal. #2 was moved up to #1 with F0 now.

Feel really really bad for #2 as we "stole" his/her F seat for the 6-hour flight.

We’re currently inflight on AS 517 FLL-SEA.

We’re both 100Ks 1 and 2 on the UG list and hoping we’d be seated in the one seat pair open, 1 D-F. The professor had different ideas and we ended up in window seats across the aisle from each other. Maybe splitting our itineraries would have helped but I doubt it.

The passenger sitting in 1D next to Mrs. Fredd very kindly volunteered to swap seats with me (I never would have asked to swap aisle for window) so we ended up next to each other in 1D-F for this long domestic flight after all.

We’re happy and grateful to be in F, but it would be nice if the good professor would decide to take note of couples.

Congrats on the upgrade!

I have given up expecting rational behavior from the upgrade professor’s seat assignments. Even when I had the preferences set in my AS profile and on even mostly empty FC cabins, I appear to randomly receive a seat (e.g. window/aisle switched) and other times the WL appears to go FIFO according to the seatmap.

The complimentary upgrade benefit truly feels like russian roulette: first if the upgrade occurs at all and second what seat you will receive. 🤙🏻🥃

I am so damn over this broken ... upgrader. 4 seats open. 1&2 on the list. 3 Folks at the bottom of an 18person list just completely jumped the entire list.

That’s frustrating indeed. Welcome to anteater’s world!

Call Customer Care and ask they open an IT ticket.

In the process of trying to do so right now. Which trying to get through to Customer Care seems to be its own frustration.

Well both CS and a Resv lead reviewed it as well as the passengers that did get upgraded and confirmed there was absolutely no reason that they should have jumped the entire list. If they could have reversed it they said they would have, but evidently they are no longer empowered to make changes.