Originally Posted by blee

I fly from SFO to PEK several times a year. Unfortunately I am only 1P at the moment, and so in order to upgrade using miles I have to book an 'H' fare. Back when I was still 1K I was able to take advantage of the lower 'W' fare and use my SWUs to upgrade. Anyway, one thing I've noticed during the past year is that the price gap between the 2 fares seems to be rising. Last year at this time the difference was maybe $400-$500, but right now there's almost a $1000 difference. Is this consistent with what others are seeing too? Seems like quite a big disparity to me.

And on a semi-related note...Is there any possibility of upgrades using miles on a lower far basis than 'H'?