Will be interesting to see what effective value this offers based on accepted upgrade bids.

I wonder:

i) What details the airlines will see beyond details already included in the flight reservation (e.g. Is the AMEX card being used the same as the one used for the original booking, is it in the name of the lead PAX, what flavor of card is it? Cent, Plat, Gold etc.?)

ii) Will flights be upgraded into paid inventory classes or award inventory classes?

iii) How will FF earnings be affected (ie FF earnings based on original booking class, will earn based on upgraded class, no earnings(!)

iv) Are upgrades for next class of service only? ie Y-C, C-F? What about Y-Premium Economy where applicable?

v) Will upgrades be easier/harder than direct upgrades with the airline using bids/points/miles?

One of the most valuable uses for MR points in my experience is for upgrades on Emirates. Instant transfers to Skywards and Emirates flexibility for Elite Skywards members to use miles to upgrade day-of-departure on a space available basis is a great combination. Interesting that Emirates don’t appear on the list of partners for this...