What worked for me was booking Premium Plus first. It pushed me higher on the upgrade list compared to starting in economy. I was still cutting it close my upgrade cleared literally 5 minutes before boarding but it worked.
For routes like SFO–SIN where upgrades are brutal, this strategy can make the difference. It’s not cheap, but if you’re chasing that Polaris seat and don’t want to burn tons of miles, upgrading from Premium Plus seems to move you up the line just enough.
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