I am actually not too upset that they are holding SOME inventory back past the 5 day window. around 6-8 months ago they held back ZERO, so as a plat if I was buying tickets (or changing) a few days prior I could NEVER get upgraded, so no incentive to buy M fares, etc.

Then CO went overboard, and IMHO not only held back too many seats, but had some rediculous upgrade prices (I saw $19 at the kiosk personally once, and $39 from IAH-SFO).

It may not be in vouge right now, but I think CO is actually getting better (and close to getting it right). I usually dont see rediculously low buyups in the last few months, and SOMETIMES get upgrades 5 days out (and sometimes closer).

I think they are holding back a bit too much F inventory, and waiting too long to process. For example I recently upgraded my wife using miles and she easilly cleared (10 people below here on the list were also upgraded), however she had to wait until 45 min prior to the flight to checking without paying a checked bag fee (she hung out before security waiting on upgrades to process).

A little more fine tuning, and the drop in Elite levels after Feb, and they just might actually get this right (of course they have made lots of us angry along the way).