Do not equate Discretionary Authority with a Shenanigan
I believe that there are rules for a reason. And then reason is applied to rules.
There are waivers, exemptions, and variances that are allowed for "good cause." I believe that this was a "good cause" and that C.E. Woolman would have been proud of the extraordinary service afforded by his Staff for this achievement. I only wish that they would do it routinely because it matters to the loyal client and it should matter even more to DL; fixing that recognition event is probably higher on the priority list than fixing the award calendar problems, but I digress.
It certainly would have been my pleasure to honor a newly minted 1MM at the expense of an upgrade; in the scheme of things, I found that one of many doesn't matter all that much, but one of a rare few may. On many occasions I happily gave my "rightful" upgrade to others fighting for a noble cause (those in service for our country). Whether it is the soldier's last comfortable seat before going into theater or her/his first coming back, the DL crew routinely overlooked my clear violation of the DL upgrade rules. Did someone not get upgraded because I gave mine away? If so, who cared that much to complain? Furthermore, who had the audacity?
Good luck to the 1MMs in their quest for 2MM. Elite Plus for "life" (at least annually) is sweet (it was a goal before I retired), but I do miss being a DM when I do have to travel. Just cut the DL crew some slack when it comes to recognizing loyalty. They understand that individual Kettles do not bring in enough revenue to make the operation profitable. FOs, GMs, PMs, DMs, and MMs matter to them as much as it matters to us; if only Virginia Avenue thought the same way . . .