That surprised me to be honest. Surely FF status should trump fare class? But given your including MFU in full fare - does that include full mileage redemption too?

But even if your only really talking about invol upgrades, surely gold should mean more than a one off flight?

Another reason why gold is worth less and less I think. I always assumed in the recent debate about Open Doors that Gold was still worth it because of the hidden priorities a GCH got.