Due the vagaries of doing a rather complex recent family trip that went SFO-NRT-PEK-SFO, there were 4 of us mostly in C on UA except on the one ANA sector (NRT-PEK) where 3 of the 4 of us were in C and one was in Y.

This is about a 3 hour flight, so on check-in I asked the clerk what it would take -- in cash or UA miles -- to upgrade the fourth person to C.

The answer was (after a HUGE amount of computation and discussion over the phone) -- UA miles, haha! -- but for money, it would be a mere USD1,450. Needless to say, one of us rode in Y on that flight! Too bad, since that person missed the option of chosing a Japanese meal with a "speciality" entree of pickled tongue from Hokkaido.