I have come to hate the use of check-in time to determine the order of the battlefield stand-by upgrade list beyond elite level and fare class. 1. It drives me nuts trying to organize to check in at the 24 hour mark to mazimize my chances. 2. Flying out of a hub, I am never first because people on my flight from other flights get to check in at the 24 hour mark of their first flight. That seems like an unfair advantage. I wonder if people have alternative ideas? Here are two I would prefer:
1. Assign a random number to passenger checking in and going on stand-by for a battlefield upgrade until the flight closes. Then order is detemrined by elite level, fare class and if need be order of number assigned.
2. When you check-in and go on the stand-by battlefield ugrade list, you bid with miles. Order is determined by elite level, fare class and if need be, highest bidder. (Ties are decided by a toin toss.)
Reactions?
Other suggestions?

Time of purchase?
Rolling priority which increases every time you're not upgraded?

Of course, like many, my preference: me first!

On my last trip on which reasonably in line for an upgrade I was in Bogota for the return leg of my trip, without any access to the internet in my hotel.

Knowing that if didn't do my OLCI at 24-hr mark my chances for battleground upgrade would be virtually nil, I text messaged my wife, who was back in Brooklyn. She OLCI's me exactly at the 24 hr mark. I ended up getting the upgrade. I don't think I woulf have gotten it otherwise.

There are many circumstances where OLCI is not possible, especially on the return leg of a trip. Perhaps CO would contemplate designing a version of the website that would be easier and quicker to use on a pda, so that customers had better access to the process while on the road.

Hub flyers and connectors will almost always be on different fare classes (e.g., there are no W fares for connecting flights, there are no T fares for non-stop flights). So the checkin time issue will usually not come into play.

Honestly, I don't bother with 24-hour checkin anymore. I do it when I can, because the chances of there being another Platinum on the same fare class as me is very small. Sure it's possible, but there are 16 different coach fare buckets on CO, and with the number of Plats on a flight and the expected distribution of those among fare classes, it's not likely.

I too do not worry about check in time especially if I'm on a low fare. I figure I'm going to get trumped by another plat on a higher fare so if the EUA does not occur I'm prepared to be in Y.

Be really nice if some data was available on this ... I know on my flights there have sometimes been 2 or more Plat regulars who were vying to be first to check in because we knew we were all on U tickets.

Yes! Scott, why can't time of purchase be extended from the non-battlefield list criteria to the battlefiled instead of the check-in time for same level, same fare base ties?