If this is a sign of things to come, this is really bad, and I'm surprised that others don't see it that way. For example, the 25K mile upgrades from PE to UC on Virgin are a fantastic use of this program. Right now partner award upgrades are not effected, but if that goes this way, that upgrade option is going to soar in price.
And while I know that inventory for these upgrades was very limited, there WAS some inventory and there were some good deals to be had.