Originally Posted by
5khours
Yes, you are correct, but.... there is a real opportunity cost in terms of real lost revenue and this varies depending on how I use and acquire my miles. Regardless of who is counting and how they count, UA would rather have me use my miles to buy a $1000 ticket that to have me use the same number of miles to buy a ticket that costs $4400 less that what I would otherwise have bought. The reduction in the liability is the same, but UA is out a lot more revenue if I use the upgrade.
That would be an accurate analysis IF the $6000 seat in question would actually be sold.
Considering that business class cabins routinely go out with seats available, or at the very least, upgrades occur at the gate 45 minutes before departure, then that does not appear to be the case.
We can discuss whether fliers have been "trained" for this -- ie, if I can get C for the price of Y, then why buy C -- but that's almost an impossible revenue opportunity cost question for us to answer.