I think the above airlines, certainly ba have a much more transparent process and 4 classes so y would be to y plus etc etc. scoring an op up on ek y to j is a big leap and it's commonly known that ek heavily oversell y, hence people having expectations and ideas of getting a free upgrade.

I agree to pay for the class I want to be in, I wrongly thought I could upgrade using points for my flight today but the flight is full in j and f - my own fault, currently trying to get an upgrade if there is a last minute cancellation.