They have made conscious business decisions about not allowing LUT fares to get various types of upgrades and bonuses and I am not in a position to say that they have made a financial mistake.

The one fact that must be front and center in this debate is that giving it away to the LUTs impacts negatively on those who customarily pay higher fares by creating an entire subset of competitors for limited availability perks such as upgrades and awards. Perhaps DL wants the high fare customers more than it wants them.