Maybe (!?) it's AF trying their best to "look after" their most valued customers. This seems to be happening more and more (to me, at least) in recent months: quite a few upgrades to Tempo Challenge on really low fares. However, I've yet to get an AF u/g on long-haul!

So now, maybe they're giving Elites (are you Gold/Plat, honker?) the privileges associated with the Abonnement (I think that's what it's called, but I've probably spelt it wrong) card. ^

But remember, I'm an optimist!