Originally Posted by
WineCountryUA
UA Insider provided this statement, 5 years ago (-6 days), which even in practice was not implemented as stated but did clearly state cash offers will be made even if there are waitlisted elites.
I remember that discussion, but my take-away from the discussion as a whole, and not from that specific post, was fare difference offers would be made regardless of Elite vs seats, and everyone should see an offer based on the difference between their ticketed fare and the lowest F-eligible fare available at the time of the offer (this process is still broken, so many years later).
I recall from one of these discussions with COInsider, that segment fee upgrades - meaning an upgrade cost calculated by some arbitrary hocus pocus recipe hidden in Shares - should not be offered when Elites>F Seats.
Of course the difference between the two is hard to tell as that $50 number could be either a fare difference or a segment fee, but it's hard to tell given how fares can be "suddenly" changed for a flight around check-in time.
What is obvious to me, is a GA doing a carnival barker routine for upgrades is using a segment fee and not a fare difference, thus if Elites>F seats, it should not be done. For years we had discussions that paralleled the far more transparent approach taken by Delta where people could put a deposit down on an upgrade, but it would only clear at the gate if enough F seats remained open after the Medallion list was cleared.
If the policy has changed, I think this is a good opportunity for the OP to confirm it via a discussion with 1KVoice.