Also ahead of you:

Any pax waitlisted on an instrument (GPU, RPU, or miles)
Any premier member on a Y or B fare.

And I believe there are more elites taking advantage of the Y, B and 1K's on M-fare to get that front seat. As they will be displaced first passengers (if not confirmable at booking) ahead of the other's on regular old tickets.

Right. That's what I'm asking. As has been explained to me in this forum, there are 2 different upgrade lists. There's the one UA does not give customers access to, and that's the one that's supposed to start running 5 days out. That's the one that gives priority to folks on Y and B fares, and those using upgrade instruments.

But, according to the published rules, ANOTHER upgrade list opens at 24 hours. That's the "Airport Upgrade Standby List," that's supposedly used to fill the remaining first class seats at the gate. That's the list made available to customers on mobile.united.com, and the regular website. According to the website:

"As customers check in, they will be placed on an airport upgrade standby list. This standby list will clear after check-in is closed, and is based on Premier status and fare class."

http://www.united.com/web/en-US/cont...aspx#cpriority

So there are 3 possibilities here: 1) Despite widely accepted conventional wisdom, what's posted on the website is not the Airport Upgrade Standby List (this seems doubtful to me); 2) there are 19 other GS and 1K members who booked higher fare categories than me on the flight (I think this is a statistical improbability); 3) despite what the website states, certain pax with higher bucket fares are getting to the top of the Airport Upgrade Standby List regardless of their status (seems by far the most probable).

If it is indeed #3, status is even less valuable than I already thought.

Yep. My dad was #1 on the list that was 30+ deep on DEN-LAX using my GPU and he has no status.

#3 is correct -- The Battlefield Upgrade (airport) list values Y and B Plats, Gold and Silver over you.

Are you saying that at T-24, as a 1K, you should automatically jump ahead of (a) lower status pax on instruments, and (b) lower status pax on Y/B fares? And that your status is somehow "devalued" if you do not get to cut in front of them? You're certainly entitled to your theories and opinions, but this doesn't make much sense to me.

You're mistaken about the conventional wisdom, and you're mis-reading the website. There are indeed two lists, but they have the same order, except that the tie-breaker for CPU's changes from time of booking to time of check-in. It would be kinda insane if someone waitlisted with an instrument didn't get priority, IMO.

Incidentally, I do not believe that uncleared Y/B/M's are considered displaced F passengers. Although displaced F passengers are yet another category, which is at the tippy-top of the list.

That would imply that there are still a number of the top high value fliers out there, which many say are fleeing by the dozens.

Correct... this is outdated but gives you a general sense of what the battlefield was cleared in the CO days:

Whether it makes sense or not -- and lots of the upgrade rules don't make much sense to me, like how companions can trump elites -- that's what the "official rules" clearly state. If that's not the ACTUAL rule, it should be re-written so elites know exactly what their status is and is not worth.

Well, from previous experience, that's not true either. On a flight last month, I checked in about 22 hours before the flight and was about 6th on the upgrade list. To my surprise, I was automatically upgraded in advance (not at the airport) on a CPU in front of other pax on the list who had already checked in earlier (presumably based on the criteria of the "5-day list"). So how would that be possible under your theory?

because he inherited your status by the use of the GPU.

The CPU list (or EUA list in the CO days) will run even after the T-24 mark but usually stop before airport control (3-5 hours before scheduled departure). If R is available, it will clear you (or atleast supposed to) via that "hidden" list. Hence why you will see this sometimes and see a lot of inconsistencies. There are other possible scenarios: example - some of those pax are on the continuing flight (same flight number) and will not clear until both segments Rs are available (hence why we suggest splitting segments on here if possible).

United.com statesWhat do you think is missing?


The "pre-gate" list (including CPU as you cross the time windows) clearing continues until close to flight time (rough observation supports until 3 maybe 2 hours prior to departure -- so folks on the gate list will appear to clear out of order). So while you can see the gate list, the other list is still active. The gate list should just be used in the last half hour or so.

+1 to edcho's reply. In any case, not sure how that would cut against my explanation...

As has been explained to me by people-who-should-know, what you're supposed to see online IS the gate list. Basically, I've been told to ignore it before arriving at the airport because (as I can confirm from first-hand experience) that's NOT the 5-day-list. But the gate list is clearly not compiled now according to what's stated on the website: it is not based on "premier class." Passengers in lower premier classes can definitely trump passengers in higher premier classes, based on their fare bucket or, perhaps, whether they were using an upgrade instrument.