AA simply doesn't want to impose revenue minimums and thereby they look like heroes in front of frequent flyers but in reality, Gold and Platinum members who frequently get upgraded to F/J are paying for those 500-mile upgrades that DL and UA claim they give for free (and again emphasis on "they claim" since free Elite upgrades are becoming more and more scarce on these airlines).

When I was only PLAT with AA, on average I was spending $275-$345 for each round-trip ticket, and the 500-milers were far more expensive than the actual net ticket prices.

For example, a round-trip for $305 that required 12 upgrades in total would mean that I would pay the $305 + $360 (price for 12 500-mile upgrades) = a total of $665.

Also, as untalented as I find AA's new management, I can't image that they would overlook the fact that with the current system, AA has managed to be the most profitable among the giant U.S. airlines and that was even before US Airways gets integrated and the majority of Elites, starting in Q2 of this year, will be forced to pay for upgrades.