It is a long weekend and Scott has other duties than FT (and he will probably look into the situation before responding), so don't expect a response immediately.

OK, but if the OP arrived with three minutes to go, then the flight was technically closed. I agree weith craz that the GA did the OP a favor, and at that point the only reasonable course of action was to go by the BP's.

It's definitely a downgrade, but much less of a downgrade than not making the flight at all...

Here's my take on what I would do if I were the GA in a situation like that and you were able to hold the flight until T-2 instead of T-15 (I know it's easy to play Monday Quarterback):

If nobody else was on the UG standby list: tell the 2 guys to take their new seats & the GA clear it with the FA.

If others were on the standby list: Upgrade the next in line at T-15 and hold the flight as long as possible. If the other guys show up, tell them that you did them a favor & held the plane, but at T-15 you had to upgrade others, assuming they aren't going to show up. They'd then have the choice of taking available seats or waiting for the next flight (no compensation since it was an ATC delay). They guys might complain that you "gave away" their FC seats, but if they are rude, but a simple explanation that favors were done to keep the plane an extra 12 minutes might help.

The GA didn't do the OP a favor, it was their job! It's not like the OP was getting loaded in the airport bar or arrived late at the airport, he/she was connecting from another flight.

I wonder if the GA knew that the two missing pax were in F. If so, the GA could have told the FA when the manifest was turned over that we're still waiting for 2 F pax from a connecting flight. I blame this more on miscommunication between the GA and FA than anything else.

I agree with you though that Scott has better things to do on a holiday weekend than sit around waiting for our gripes.

Wow, when I was in the OP's position (Delayed on an AUS connection) I spent then next hour riding standby. Congrats to the GA for holding the flight and seeing that the OP got on the flight.

Well, if the flight is closed, the GA is entitled to deny boarding...that has happened countless times, even when the door to the jetway is still open.

My hunch is that the GA felt a need to expedite this process to the max and dispensed with all the work needed to verify an upgrade...

What if the manifest already had the OP+ no longer on it??

I thought the head count has to match the manifest #

As for the FC seats being given to others what if there were no one else on the list, Ive been on many a flight where there were more FC seats then people on the list

Sorry but in This case I dont feel the OP is owed anything. At T-3 the main concern has to be getting the flight out on time and not holding up a plane load of passengers so as to enable a couple of passengers to get their due Upgrade

Actually it is the Gate Agent's job to get the flight out ON TIME. At three minutes till departure time, the OP was not entitled to get on the flight.

The agent knows that the 2 pax were in F, this is not at issue here. If ANY pax has not showed up at the gate by T-3, they get unseated. It has nothing to do with miscommunication between GA and FA. Indeed, how was the GA to know that the 2 missing pax were going to turn up at all, many pax realise that they may not make the flight and go straight to the service centre to be rebooked on a later flight.

There is no way the GA is going to hold a flight on the offchance that 2 upgraded pax may or may not come to the gate.

Also by this point in time, the FA has the final manifest, which would not show the 2 missing first class passengers.

but after these two PAX got on board, didn't the GA have to give the FA an updated final manifest showing the two in F?

At t-3 the pax would have been unseated and would not show up on the final report. Pax seated in coach are not named in the report.

If there was a new manifest given it probably had the 2 in Coach as per their paid tkts. No different then a SBY. I wouldnt think the GA would go thru all the motions of getting them onto the flight and then rerun any UPs

And I wouldnt be a bit surprised if the GA didnt rerun the manifest but simply told the lead FA that these passengers have been cleared to board, otherwise since it was T-3 when they got there,a new manifest being printed would most certainly have meant the flight pushing back in a Delayed departure mode. It does take a couple- a few mins for the manifest to be printed out

Correct, the FA will add 2 pax to the final manifest to get the correct numbers.

There would have not been time to upgrade the two pax and rerun the final report to show them sitting in first class. They were very luck to get on the aircraft at all.

Info From the Expert
 

Perhaps our very own SFOGate could enlighten all of us with some of her insights with this type of situation, since she deals with it on an on-going basis...

Tough situation for everyone. It's hard to say why the GA allowed the customers to board at T-3 and still not give them their F seats, when it appears that no one was waiting for the upgrade since those seats were open. The boarding agent should know more about what's going on with this flight that the controlling GA, who should be on board talking with the flight crew to get the ok to close the door.

Using the boarding pass readers makes our job so much more easier. We know who we are missing and the reader catches the upgrades and people who hand us the incorrect boarding pass (either the one for their next trip or they are attempting to board the wrong flight). We can also print out a list of those people who have failed to board. I usually do that at T-15 and double check how they were checked in; ie at home/auto return flight check in/late arriving connect. This list is passed onto the control GA to verify that the customers are not onboard, since the boarding pass readers can and do miss reading some boarding passes.

The control GA usually runs the final report at T-15, which contains the names of those sitting in F, those waiting for battlefield upgrades and the names of the non-revs, plus other information. This final report is handed to the FSM (lead FA). If paranoiatx and friend were still checked in, their names would have been shown on the final report. Easy enough to check. The GA is either on board at this time or standing on the jetway waiting to close the door and retract the jetway.

I'm sure everyone was rushing at this point to get the flight out. Not sure if this is considered a downgrade for the purposes of compensation. At T-3 you really don't have any leg to stand on since we can pull the jetway at T-14. You are considered to not exist at T-15 if you are not on the jetway at this time.

The aircraft door can be closed once all the overhead bins are closed.