Aer Lingus Gold Circle Club - Fare Class Required for Aer Lingus Gold Circle Point Upgrade (Y --> J)

I'm looking into purchasing a ticket JAX-JFK-DUB (and returning), with JAX-JFK on B6 and JFK-DUB on EI. The JFK-DUB segment is showing as an R fare and I would like to upgrade to Business Class, but I am very unfamiliar with the EI point system for upgrades. From what I gather on the Aer Lingus website (http://www.aerlingus.com/goldcircle/usingyourpoints/onaerlingus/) it takes 4000 points to upgrade a flight to/from the USA.

So I have a few questions:



Are there any fare class restrictions for upgrading?
Would purchasing the ticket through Expedia (where I can purchase the B6 and EI flights all on one itinerary) cause problems with requesting an upgrade?
Can I call Aer Lingus and ask if there is upgradeable space on the EI operated flights? Or do they protect this information?


Thanks!

1. Don't think so.
2. Don't think so, but you may wish to call EI to be certain.
3. Yes, and you can also check using KVS and possibly some other subscription services.

Don't forget that on EI only elites can spend gold circle points. You don't mention in your profile that you are EI Gold, so that's worth noting.