I was not trying to be condescending. When a person asks a question in conversation such as 'do I need 25,000 Miles to upgrade?' my answer might be 'yes, you do need 25,000 Miles' with no subtext implied in my answer.

And unless I have misread the information given in the Ultimate Guide, tickets purhased at aa.com cannot be upgraded. If I have misread that info, then I apologise.