I'm really of the mind that some posters are expecting WAY too much here....
The new upgrade system DOES NOT guarantee that you will now receive an upgrade.
So I think it's wrong of posters here to complain that because they don't receive an upgrade (due to J being full) that this means the new system isn't working/
NEWS FLASH: If J is full you ain't receiving an upgrade under any system, new or old. (Or even a confirmed upgrade system - as if they think they can sell all the J seats - they won't release them for awards or confirmed upgrades).
Here's how it works:
OLD SYSTEM:
You MAY receive an upgrade if there are seats available at the time QF processes the upgrades (no guarantees). You are not promised to find out any earlier than T-5.
AND - you may very well miss out, and then get on the aircraft to see J half empty - and then you get upset at that.
NEW SYSTEM:
You still may not get an upgrade, and if you do you may not find out until T-5.
If possible to provide an upgrade as early as T-48 - then you may be lucky and find out earlier.
If you miss out at T-5, and there are late no-shows, you may still be lucky enough to get an upgrade at the last minute due to no shows. (Where you would have previously been stuck in whY).
QF never promised that the new system guarantees an upgrade, just that they have extended the processing window, and also introduced a last-minute round to fill the empty J seats (where you would have otherwise missed out).
PS. Oh - and the last minute round has nothing to do with affecting op-ups. In perhaps 1% of cases, without an upgrade request, IF the whY cabin was full, and IF you are a WP, and IF there are spaces still in J, and IF they need to perform op-ups, and IF they are actually choosing to perform op-ups in status order, and IF they don't choose a different WP member....... Then yes, in this tiny percentage of cases the WP (with NO upgrade request) will miss out on their "maybe-perhaps-if you're lucky-once-in-a-blue-moon-op-up" in favour of the SG/PS/NB who had an upgrade request in. Of course - if the WP had an upgrade request in - they would still trump others for the seat
I believe QF are delivering exactly what they said they would.
FWIW - if you are missing out on an upgrade, but seeing the J cabin full - that indicates to me that the system is working.
OTOH - if you miss out on an upgrade and you see the J cabin is NOT full - then that tells me the new system is NOT working.