Those reasonable business class awards to Australia are the way the entire OnePass program used to be where, other than at off-peak times (also eliminated!), you could "upgrade" to a premium cabin for modest additional mileage. Of course, I almost always used the extra mileage for business class.

Now, under CO's own rules, you have to weigh whether it's worth using twice as much mileage for the upgrade. I guess if you're generating tons of mileage, it is. But if you're not earning hundreds of thousands of miles a year, or if you have a family you want to take along, the current reward chart usually "makes" you pick steerage.