I just looked for award seats to FCO 10 months away. No saver awards available??? Then I checked for upgrade seats, most seats were available, but the upgrade fee was $1,100 for a total of $2,400 and 40,000 miles. I then checked economy seats for same flights and the total was $1,300.

Is there something I am not understanding here? Is there a way to pay a lower upgrade fee and use more miles? Is there a reason such little availability to award seats 10 months out? Is there a reason it costs $1,100 to upgrade?