What do you mean by "she sat in J"? Was she (CHA, A) upgraded to J? If so what do you plan to complain about?

It means he gave her his seat in J and he sat in her Y seat.

Seems delay was minimal though, so not sure how this factored in ?
Do you have a screen shot that actually shows this (CHA, A still #1 on list and BUR, S in 21E, and presumably MIC, J now #2)?

Could it be when your reservation was split and 1K OP got upgrade, then list was the-ordered to put her at tail end of 1Ks (ie after BUR)? I think companions of 1Ks are placed at end of 1K hopefuls.

Or even much lower down the list below platinums which is why I asked OP if they had a screenshot showing her still in #1 position after BUR, S was upgraded.

Correct. He sat in her Y seat.

The delay was to allow people with late-arriving connections to make the flight. My guess is at some point someone who was not going to make it was offloaded, which is how the seat in J opened up.

I thought I had a screen shot of CHA, A still #1 on the PP upgrade list after BUR, S. cleared, but I don’t. She still was #1 afterwards, though.

I’m thinking that the gate upgrade list may have been screwed up. They were listed as #1 and #2 on the PP upgrade list when boarding started, and he ended up getting cleared into PP, so it is possible that the gate list did not update properly to drop her down below any remaining 1K’s. I will write to inquire, and see what kind of a response I get. It won’t be a complaint (unless it truly was shenanigans :D) — more of a curiosity factor. If the gate upgrade lists cannot be trusted, it’s good intel.

Website list shows CHA, A at 1. with BUR, S cleared.
https://www.united.com/en/us/flights...-10/EWR/LAX/UA

However, I don't think that really adds new information. If there was any time elapsed between CHA, D clearing and BUR, S clearing, a capture of the list from then would show whether CHA, A dropped down or the upgrades were done out of order.

All that said, it is a bit dissatisfying that they can't process upgrades in a manner consistent with the priority order they publish.

If BUR was a 1K, the upgrades were probably processed correctly. The issue might be brief visibility of a (ephemerally) incorrect upgrade queue due to splitting of your PNR. Certainly would be frustrating for #1 and surprising for #2.

Sidenote: UA751 is an unreliable flight. It's been delayed/cancelled almost every day.

I was on the Saturday flight. Crew tried to blame it on the incoming flight.

UA should just do away with the UG lists. They are never accurate and have the effect of making people feel like they've been cheated when they start high on the list and don't get the UG. Luckily, on almost all of my flights, cash buyers and a few GSs get all of the UGs, so I don't even bother wasting my time looking anymore.

I certainly don't prefer that they do away with upgrade lists. The relative transparency for upgrade handling is part of what has kept me with UA. I would say from my experience they are usually accurate, but there are not uncommonly problems, and those get a lot of focus here because they can be so dismaying.

I agree. They are accurate (IMHO and experience) most of the time, but the occasional hiccup, re-ordering, or some slimeball GS sniping :), do exist. I haven't seen anything I would call (or could prove) are shenanigans in a while and the visible upgrade list helps deter GAs from doing just that.

I agree - some edge cases do not warrant dumping the list altogether. I use the list to gauge where I am and helps me decide if I want to jump the list with a buyup or take my chances. I consider being #1 or #2 with 2 seats to be a 50/50 chance at best. And if I'm coming in at #5 I have the mindset of either knowing it is definitely economy and plan accordingly or buyup depending on distance/seat/price.

Here is the response which I received from 1K Voice to the below incident:

“Unfortunately, there no way for Customer Care to duplicate the boarding or waitlist process. It's all done at the airport once the flight departs it is completed. We don't store the data. Customer service has to follow the standard operating procedure or face discipline.

Thank you for your loyalty as a Premier 1K member of the MIleagePlus program.”

:rolleyes: