It seems to be conventional wisdom around here that the upgrade arrow on united.com does not actually reflect whether you're properly waitlisted for an upgrade. I think this comes from general skepticism and also experience people have had where upgrades didn't process despite R availability and having the blue arrow.
In my specific experiences, though, the upgrade arrow IS accurate, insofar as if it appears, you're at least going to be on the list. When I have declined a split when with a companion, I have seen the blue arrow disappear for all remaining segments. I have then called to request that the "do not upgrade" flag be removed from certain segments and seen the arrow re-appear.
One thing I can't recall is in a case in which I split with my companion, which I know still puts them on the upgrade list, if the blue arrow still appears. So it's possible absence of the arrow doesn't NECESSARILY mean you won't get it, but presence does mean you're waitlisted.
I'm hoping we can collect some experiences here not buried among CPU or instrument upgrade threads to see if we can get a definitive answer.
In my specific experiences, though, the upgrade arrow IS accurate, insofar as if it appears, you're at least going to be on the list. When I have declined a split when with a companion, I have seen the blue arrow disappear for all remaining segments. I have then called to request that the "do not upgrade" flag be removed from certain segments and seen the arrow re-appear.
One thing I can't recall is in a case in which I split with my companion, which I know still puts them on the upgrade list, if the blue arrow still appears. So it's possible absence of the arrow doesn't NECESSARILY mean you won't get it, but presence does mean you're waitlisted.
I'm hoping we can collect some experiences here not buried among CPU or instrument upgrade threads to see if we can get a definitive answer.