Even at 71 hours there's no guarantee that, as you said, "... all Golds have been upgraded." If no U space opened up at T-72 then there would still be Golds on the list awaiting an upgrade, some who rightly should be upgraded before you as a result of having purchased their tickets prior to yours. Also by giving up that U space that you've been holding doesn't guarantee that those seats will immediately be returned to U inventory.

Missy is right. Stick with the "spirit" of the paper upgrades and just leave it as is. There are plenty of Golds who won't use their paper upgrades who would probably part with them later in the year. Keep checking Coupon Connection.