Originally Posted by
tjtenor4
The point remains, though, that as a direct result of the new system, since miles + copay upgrades will take up C (and even F) seats that were previously empty, the SWUs are devalued, as the new system makes it inherently less likely that using an SWU will be successful.
I feel like this has been rehashed ad nauseum in this thread and others, but there is nothing "inherent" about this. You forget that anyone in the past could have bought up to MH or even YB and used miles to upgrade "taking up" C and F seats in exactly the same way.
The target of speculation is whether more seats will be taken up under this new system. I suspect it will be largely unchanged. Others obviously disagree. But there's nothing inherent about your argument.
If the copay is larger than the MH-to-lowest.available.fare difference, the new policy will discourage upgrades more than the old policy, for out-of-pocket purchasers. If the copay is smaller than the MH-to-lowest.available.fare difference, the new policy will encourage upgrades more than the old policy. If it's a wash, the new policy will encourage upgrades, because the copay isn't charged unless the upgrade clears.
We don't know the copay structure yet, nor the price points from the lowest.available.fare to MH, so there's a lot of speculation right now. On edit:
cepheid and I generally agree.