saltydog75

I'm guessing you're not averse to economy but would like to bump up to biz if it's cheap.

If the upgrade at time of booking is too much for you, one option is to wait until check-in. findark probably knows more than me, but I recently travelled IAD->ORD and back, ticketed economy. I checked in via the app as early as possible and the "change seat" allowed me to upgrade to biz for $129 (IAD->ORD) and $89 (IAD->ORD). I'm pretty sure those are lower than what you'd have to pay prior to check in. Few of the biz seats at that time were booked.

So, I'd book a cheap economy seat on a flight that looks to have a lot of empty seats in biz. Set an alarm for yourself to check in as soon as you can (24 hrs before), check in on the app, then try to change seats and see what the buy-up price is. If there are a lot of biz seats free, you may get an affordable upgrade.

Another point of information: I actually bumped a co-worker out of getting a business seat via CPU. I was able to buy up for $89 24 hrs before and he was the highest on the list not to get a CPU. In other words: it appears you can buy up, even at a low price, before CPUs get doled out. I would have assumed that he (1K status, I believe) would have gotten a seat before I was able to buy up, but that didn't seem to be the case.

If you remember, update the thread with whatever route you go to let us know how it worked out.

I think that's true when we're comparing Y to J/F on the same route. It's not true comparing one Y route (a direct, let's say) against a different J/F route (1 stop). I've been looking at flights IAD->DEN in June and I've found routes in J/F (1 stop) that are essentially equivalent to Y on the nonstops (~$1,050). This is a potentially good way to get the company to pay for J/F if you're traveling on business. If they'll pay $1,000 for the nonstop Y, why wouldn't they pay for the 1-stop J/F for $1,000? If comfort is more important to you than a short flight, you take J/F. If you want a short flight, you take the Y.