The term "hokey" used by the OP refers to the nickname given to the original version of CO's pay-to-play international upgrade policy: Originally, a CO flyer needed to buy a H, K, or Y fare to be eligible to request an upgrade - lower classes of economy fares were not even eligible (this was changed later). In many cases, CO flyers needed to buy ~$1000 and higher transatlantic fares to qualify for the privelege of paying for their upgrade.
