Originally Posted by
Chugach
I've snagged upgrades on awards as well. Sometimes you can get them with OLCI, although you'll have to pay the upgrade fee to do so ($50 per 1000 miles). It's also possible to get a battlefield upgrade at the gate, but don't count on it, especially in a hub city like ANC or SEA where there are already lots of elites.
It seems like AS is flexible with this policy. I've upgraded at OLCI without paying the fee several times, albeit on some very empty SEA-SE Alaska flights last fall (about 20 passengers on each of the flights).