The copay on PS flights will dramatically reduce the use of MP miles for upgrades and lead to some empty seats upfront.

It becomes more cost effective for elites just to just buy $1K one way BF seats. A one way K fare of $200, plus a $250 copay, plus $400 (the approx value of 20k miles) and you are at $850 for an unconfirmed seat. Plus, by buying the BF seat at $1k versus an economy seat for $200, you get another 8,800 miles under the new earning scheme (11x).

Will also reduce all the 1K's who use their miles for family members to upgrade.

All those critics who say UA can't come up with an original idea, looks like they proved you wrong. Can't believe they couldn't come up with an exception for GS and 1Ks.