Originally Posted by RichardInSF

I agree with your last statement and disagree with your first paragraph, but then I am in a different category: I am, in the end, willing to pay for Z if no confirmed upgrades are granted so will chose an airline with guaranteed better seating than UA.

Also, you miss the point of this thread: ALL international flights have had confirmable upgrades virtually eliminated, even on the old seating configuration (Japan, China, Australia, for example).