My wife and I have traveled on Qatar twice now ORD-DOH-BLR. We got an offer last year for $980 to upgrade one of us to business class on DOH-ORD (the return flight). We found that to be a bit expensive and by the time we discussed it, it was no longer available.

We have to attend a wedding in BLR this year during the summer so we again found Qatar to be the cheapest and booked the same legs. This time, and offer for $215 to upgrade DOH-BLR on my wife's initial leg. We've both been slaving like dogs the last 6 months, so I splurged for her. And even though it was only a 4hr leg, she was truly able to rest.

And then I got a similar offer for myself on the return for BLR-DOH so I took that.

I ran the numbers on both offers before accepting mine and they come in at about 30% cheaper than the business promo rate and much cheaper than the full business rate. Sure there's no extra miles, but if comfort on the flight is the goal, they can be a great deal. Just be sure to run the numbers on each deal you get as they do vary. My upgrade was more than my wife's even though it was the same segment.