As a matched BD*G I have been thinking recently about how this GC-E perk works and thought that this was just the place to ask.

Principally, the questions are:
(i) Do the 4 x upgrades come from award inventory (presumably this limits access?) - and do agents have authority to seek to have biz seats released on request?
(ii) Does the free companion ticket come from award inventory? I wondered whether the arrangement might be different for this than the upgrades, but in fact have no idea.

Any experience/advice would be much appreciated.
DCf