As the boarding time neared for the Atlanta-bound flight, the upgrade list began to shrink.
"People eat up a lot of bandwidth checking the upgrade list on their iPhone," Mr. Petersen said.
The fact that there is an upgrade list that travelers can check, at least on some carriers, is one of the positive developments in recent years, as the awarding of upgrades has been automated.
(Kudos, in particular, to Delta's app. It's beautiful, typographically intelligent and loaded with great features. You can change your seat, track your luggage's location, check your position on the standby list or upgrade list, and so on).
Despite seeing his name at the top of the upgrade list, he confirmed his spot with an agent anyway, lingering around afterward to make sure he wouldn't be bumped.
* Remain loyal to one airline and fly frequently; if you acquire "gold" or "silver" status, you will be on the SFU ("suitable for upgrade") list * Marry a pilot or member of cabin crew.
The Wii U is next on the upgrade list while Microsoft and Sony are still trying to figure out what a next gen console is supposed to do and what it's supposed to look like.
Why he won't: He was only third on the upgrade list, so he was stuck in economy plus on the plane trip from Dubai to U.S. Just kidding, he got the upgrade.
We're both Premier 1K members, but she was higher on the upgrade list -- after a first-class no-show, she ended up in seat 2A, while I was back in Economy Plus in 14D.
Ask to be put on an upgrade list by calling the hotel before your check in date.
