That's very sucky behavior by UA! Just a minor note, though, [MENTION=37927]platbrownguy[/MENTION], my understanding is that AA offers LFBU to the extent that it anticipates that seats will be available to elites for upgrade, even though elites on the upgrade list may not yet have been upgraded. As an example, if AA has, say, 10 seats in J available, with six elites waiting for upgrades, it may offer four seats for LFBU. There's always a risk that after LFBU sales, seat mights be given to last-minute purchasers or to accommodate people on a delayed flight, resulting in missed upgrades. But it's a much better policy than what you describe UA as doing!