Domestic appear .... to appear, intl not
 

I've been lucky to have all my GPU and RPU clear in advance (most cases, one week, some cases by several weeks...). This has been my experience thru all of 2013:
GPU on international flights: my name has never appeared on the upgraded list. RPU on domestic flights: my name always appeared on the upgrade list.

My co-worker states experience the same as mine for RPU/domestic. However, he has had some GPU not clear in advance - they cleared at the airport - and his name did appear on the upgraded list. This is not consistently the case- more than once he has been boarded in J but pulled to F by the GA just before the door was closed.

This is also my experience:
CPU eligible flights - always appear on the cleared upgrade list if an instrument is used (whenever cleared)
Non-CPU eligible flights - only appear as cleared if cleared at the gate

For international non CPU eligible, if you clear in advance, you do not show up. Domestic/ CPU eligible, you do. Not sure why, other than to obfuscate how many / few people are flying int'l business paid, and to show how many people get upgraded on CPU eligible flights- Psychology FTW...

Yes, but then they should show on the "cleared" list, and this is frequently not the case either.

I don't think it's that cynical, I think it's a feature of how the list is processed for display. Probably the on CPU routes the list displays all passengers in R/RN and anyone of the T-24 waitlist. Perhaps with non-CPU routes it only shows the T-24 waitlist and a flag that shows who has been upgraded by a GA?

I don't where the idea of "should show" comes from - this is an opaque process and we don't know what "should" or "should not" show. Note also there are at least three separate processes running as departure draws near - the clearing of pax into open R, the processing of the waitlist somewhere around T-24 (which may or may not occur), and manual clearing off the waitlist by the gate agents inside T-30.

I think there are possibly four processes:
1. The manual booking into R space by reservations agents/via the website using instruments/miles (possibly via process 2 or 3)
2. The automatic clearing into R space of instruments/miles supported upgrades
3. The automatically clearing into R space of CPU eligible passengers on CPU eligible flights (at and after the relevant windows)
4. The manual processing of the departure upgrade list by the Gate Agents prior to departure

It's not clear to me whether instrument upgrades on CPU eligible flights are cleared via 2 or 3. If the output of 3 of and 4 does generate the "upgraded" list and 2 does not, then that is that that causes the discrepancy.

There are no recent changes. For international flights, the only pax that show up on the upgrade list are those who did NOT clear ahead of the T-24 hour mark.

If you clear at booking or at any point before the flight goes under airport control, you will not show up on the upgrade list. If you do not clear ahead of time, then your name will appear on the upgrade standby list, and should you clear at the gate it will be transferred to the upgraded pax list.

There is therefore no way to find out how many passengers are upgraders vs. full fare (or awards, etc.) The flight status page can show 0 upgraded passengers when in reality any number of upgrades were processed ahead of time. Folks on the upgrade standby list are probably just lower status or lower fare.