Telling GAs or FAs how to do their job is something I've learned to steer well clear of.

In reading all the comments here, I do now wish I had said something. I mostly just consider a CPU a 'perk', but since it is indeed policy, employees shouldn't be using it to their advantage.
Thanks again, everyone.

Haha, seen that done. Poor guy had to pick up his stuff and to the back he went.

Surprised no one has pointed out that since you were eligible for an M-UP, that trumps CPU. So you were screwed out of a technically bigger perk than a "complimentary" upgrade! Please update us if/when you get a response from CS.

you may have missed post #12 and others

Sorry, I guess I meant that no one has specifically connected the OP's complaint to the fact that it wasn't a "CPU" that was lost in this case, despite the OP repeatedly using that term. I was not referring to the upgrade pecking order, but the name of the actual benefit that was lost.

All I'm saying is, fastfxr, you should emphasize to CS that getting screwed out of a CPU on a high-ish fare is one thing, but losing an -UP to shenanigans is even worse.

An M fare Instant Upgrade is not a -UP either.

Ha, touche.

Reminding the crew to clear the upgrade list is not telling them how to do your jobs and I've never had an issue when doing it - it's how you ask or remind vs the act of reminding.

I think everything Often1 has written here has been disproven already by the masses.

Only on DL

Last Feb, I flew in paid F on ATL-SFO on DL on a Friday midday flight, F was sold out a few weeks in advance and remained that way pretty much until boarding. The list was over 40 deep with 24/24 seats checked in. We boarded, turns out there were a couple of misconnects and the flight closed with 19/24 seats occupied in F. Not one single person was upgraded, because they boarded the flight rather than waiting over at the podium.

While it may seem less disruptive to the boarding process, it is undoubtedly more disruptive to the GAs. I have seen many situations where there were several Diamonds hovering the podium distracting the GA over 1 or 2 open seats and the others constantly asking in hopes of no show. DL GAs does a pretty good job of being patient and answering the same question over and over again, but I can see that they want to focus on getting the flight out on time.

Having UA's SOP where everyone boards irregardless of the F cabin availability then the GA can run the upgrade and being down the BPs along with the final paperwork to the plane. They know who is onboard and those on the upgrade list who didn't board would have been offloaded and thusly removed from the upgrade list automatically. In this case, sounds like the GA processed the upgrade first before offloading no shows.

I completely feel your pain and if it makes you feel any better it happens on paid F situations too. I was on my way back from HKG when mechanical delays caused me to miss connection in SFO to ORD. They were able to reroute me home but sat me in 38 F when I was on a paid F fare. As I was boarding I walked by 6 FA's sitting in E+ when I was two rows in front of the toilet. When I wrote 1k to ask why that happened here was their response.

"Dear Mr. XXXX,

I have forwarded your concern to the Airport manager for internal review
of this specific matter. The standby employees should only be offered
seats once all paid passengers are boarded. A 1K should be offered an
Economy Plus seat before a standby employees and your concern will be
addressed.

Thank you very much.

Regards,

XXXXX
Corporate Customer Care
7319363"

When I asked for compensation and refund in fare class difference they said they would refund the diff (never actually did they refund it) and that I was not eligible for any compensation because I just received compensation for my mechanically delayed outbound flight to HGK two days earlier. (4 hour delay, 1.5 of which on the tarmac, then they proceeded go back to gate and cancel rebooking for the next day)

Sometimes things just don't go your way.

Compensation received for an outbound MX shouldn't affect compensation on the return for a different issue.

That is what I told them.

were these FA's flying standby on their own time or traveling on business?

Really, I don't think thats true. When ever I'm number #1 or even #2 on the UG list, I monitor the UG list via my BB after boarding. Several times I've seen that I've been upgraded after boarding, generally at about the 10-15 minute mark before departure. The GA then finds me packing up my stuff in anticipation of the move to the Front part of the plane.