US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Confusion on USAirways Upgrades International

Has anyone tried to upgrade using Systemwide upgrades that are mailed to you lately? Well, let me tell you the difference between USAirways and Delta.
Now USAirways has 'upgradeable' international fares but you can only upgrade 7 days in advance using the upgrade coupons. On the other hand if you buy upgradeable fare from Delta, you can use the coupons and upgrade at the time you make your reservations (can be a month in advance or so).
Logically, why would one fly USAirways transatlantic when they can upgrade on Delta? Wonder if USAirways FF program needs to update this policy to keep its customer base.
Would love to know your opinion. Thanks

Welcome to FT!

Agree that it is a very strange upgrade process on USAirways, but that's a very simplistic view.

In my (admittedly anecdotal) experience, Delta's lowest upgradeable fare is MUCH HIGHER than USAirways for similar markets.

You can upgrade before 7 days with points if you want to be more assured of a seat.

Plus, US' Envoy product is far superior to DL's "BusinessElite" - especially on the A330.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PAKMAN:
Has anyone tried to upgrade using Systemwide upgrades that are mailed to you lately? </font>

Hmmm... this has been the case since the DMUPSYS02s were introduced at the beginning of this year. Nothing new there. And the only fare that is not upgradeable with these is the lowest V-fare (which includes E-savers). The next-to-lowest Q-fare (usually about $40-$100 more) is fully upgradeable.

US's (certificate) upgrade model is designed to maximize available revenue seats for the longest period while providing an advantage for the higher elite DM members.

Although we may/certainly don't like the model, it does make sense from US's business point of view.

Personally, I only purchase what I know I can upgrade immediately. I don't want to gamble with sitting in coach. So US's current u/g model has lost most of my international business since I am now only a DM silver and won't gamble to use a SWU cert.

And next year they want 50% more miles to upgrade the lowest fares....