So, I have the following booked on Jan 9:
DTW-ORD @ 5:37AM EST
ORD-SAN @ 7:10AM CST

I got an e-mail at 5:53AM EST today (Jan 6) saying my ORD-SAN segment was upgraded.

I got a separate e-mail at at 6:10AM saying DTW-ORD was upgraded.

I'm a PLT, so my upgrade threshold should be 72 hours. The DTW-ORD makes sense, but I can't figure out why ORD-SAN was upgraded early.

Since most of my upgrades ending last year were battlefield upgrades, I'm not only surprised I got upgraded before check-in, but I'm floored they did it early? Has anyone else experienced this?

good for you, dont even think about it...enjoy the fact that you have them, and yes on ocassion I will get some notices that are earlier than the 100 hour window, but rare

The 72 hour window is according to the departure time of your first flight. If upgrades are available AND you were next to be upgraded on the connecting flight you will be upgraded for both flights at the same time

It's been my understanding that this is no longer the case- connections no longer give priority over upgrades on the next flight; the system should process upgrades on each flight at its own window not giving connecting pax priority...can anyone confirm if this has changed again? Could also be an IT glitch...either way, enjoy the upgrades OP!

Connecting pax don't receive priority, but can be upgraded slightly earlier on their onward flights if they're at the top of the list anyway (which is what aero0729 is saying).

OK got it, thanks!

Also, connecting priority only applied to the airport list, not the EUA list.

Data point: upgrade cleared today for myself and non-status companion using my stickers. I checked the seat map at T-102, complete F cabin on LUS A319 empty, all seats unassigned. By T-101, there were already 3 other pax moved to F. I purchased our tickets months ago, and at the time we were the only ones booked on the flight (as confirmed by telephone agent and expertflyer seating charts). In theory, this should have placed us at the top of the upgrade list as EXP no? In any case, a few minutes after T-100 our upgrades cleared, followed by two others about another hour later. The cabin now has five unassigned seats.

Here's what I'm wondering...if we were at the top of the list as EXP according to time stamp/date of upgrade request, how were we the 4th and 5th to get upgraded? Obviously not a concern when the cabin is empty, but if only 3 seats were to have been left at the window, this would have ticked me off...

Others were traveling on full Y fares, perhaps?

That could be, but still interesting to note the upgrades before T-100. May also be connecting through, which would suggest some priority to connections still remains as reported by the OP.

On another note, do many people actually travel on full Y fares? They're always priced so high...if you can afford them, buying A or P is usually less, unless you need the flexibility...

No connecting priority necessary; Y fares would explain it. And yes, plenty of people book them (though typically not at full retail value).

OK makes sense, thanks.

Early upgrades can happen any time upgrade inventory is available, so if RM releases inventory for any reason, apparently upgrading can occur.

My upgrade on AA 72 SYD-LAX 23 Dec 2015 cleared prior to the 100 hour window.

Our (2) upgrades for AA 164 SFO-JFK on 6 Jan and return AA 17 on 16 Jan cleared well before T-100.

AA 80 DFW-LHR 13 Apr, and AA 109 LHR-LAX 18 Jul have already cleared.

All J cabin to F cabin, all but AA 80 with SWU; AA 80 with BXP3.

*****

You don't list your flight, but if a hub - even though you were the only ones on the flights departing the hub at booking, a connecting (in this case EXP) pax booking after you has the window for ALL their segments open at T-100 for their first flight, as stated above. So, if you booked YYY-ZZZ and another EXP booked XXX-YYY-ZZZ their T-100 window opens BEFORE you and IF RM has opened "X", they will upgrade on any/all segments - potentially before you. I do not THINK the recent elimination of "T" designators on the AP upgrade list has anything to do with this scenario. I'm also not sure Y/B fares trump the reservation system list like it does the AP list - but it could. Just like they COULD have suppressed upgrades before the T-100 window opens for the flight - but recent experience shows otherwise.

Also, some reports of CK overrides occurring, outside of published parameters.