Originally Posted by
sbm12
The highlighted part is completely false. I have no idea where you got that idea, but anyone is eligible for a cash + miles upgrade on international flights.
True enough, although it is a bit of a semanticism, since the amount of miles required in most cases for a BF upgrade would imply that the passenger has reached at least the lowest tier elite level. (40,000 mies rt to upgrade TATL or South America, and 50,000 miles to upgrade to Asia rt)
Of course, it would be possible to transfer points from Amex MR or some other similar mechanism. Otherwise, the vast majority of the pax using this are likely to have attained at least the lowest tier elite.