I think UA would love this *A upgrade scheme. It is a VERY POOR use of miles. So if UA has agreed a decent rate for *A upgrade redemptions with the other *A carriers then it would make great sense. Get people to redeem miles for really poor value awards. I would expect that if they do come back to require lots of miles and have extreme fare requirements (i.e. Full fare coach etc to prevent Ma and Pa redeeming for them).