Transcon flight 3500 miles? I don't think any transcon flight uses more than 6 upgrades (anyone confirm this?). E.g., you're in BOS and LAX/SFO are ~2600.
First, 16=100K miles. 12 upgrades is 75K miles. Second, 'EXP worth of miles'? EXPs will earn at least 200K miles/year (100% bonus), even if they have no other activity/bonuses.
You're right though generally regarding the miles-->stickers exchange. Complete ripoff. You know you can use a 15K miles award (one way upgrade), which is even better than stickers because you don't have to wait for the 100/72/24 hour window?
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by doug-jensen:
Hmm, an upgrade cert is good for 500 miles, and a transcon flight is about 3500 miles each way, so that's 7 certs each way = 14 which cost 100K miles or $560 for one round trip? Spending an EXP worth of miles for one trip?</font>