The introduction of last minute fare buy ups really changed the upgrade game, especially for Platinums. It basically allows people to cut the upgrade queue for as little as $100-200. If you're looking for transcon upgrades on a low fare, you can pretty much forgetaboutit these days!!

Last week, Me and my brother took EWR-LAX to visit family. I paid $240 for a S Class round trip ticket. My brother paid a higher fare class because he bought his ticket late. The flight had 2 first class seats available at T-8hr. After checking in, I saw I was #6 on the upgrade list and My brother was #1 on the list. I didn't like my upgrade odds so I checked OLCI again and OLCI offered me to buy up for $180, presumably to M. Took the offer and sat in first for the flight. My brother thought his chances were pretty good since he was number 1 on the upgrade list. Apparently someone else must have taken the buy up offer because he ended up sitting in coach for the five hour flight.

So if you're a Plat and want to sit in first for a long flight, be ready to pay for the fare buy ups. If you don't, get ready to sit in coach. I think this is the new Continental. As Seinfield said... not that there's anything wrong with it. -- Just have to play the game differently now.