Originally Posted by
VrefPlus5
...American flights operated by Compass airlines. ...Then they gave a first class seat to someone below us on the list(D2R if I remember correctly, not sure if that's a higher or lower than D2).
What station were you at? Main cabin only was an American Eagle policy, that died years ago. Compass employees had to wait two years to be displayed on the upgrade list due to “IT issues”. It’s possible they upgraded AACs ahead of you, which would be correct on AAC-operated flights. However leaving open seats is simply laziness or station mafia power tripping. If you introduced yourself to the crew, they would have upgraded you; that’s how we did it the last two years.