PHL-PIT on an E175 in 8A in 2 weeks. Offered $76 to upgrade to F for the 40 minute flight. As the RT ticket already cost $285 when purchase, no thanks.

PHL-TPA in a month on an A321. Already in a prime row 11 seat. Paid $125 RT and being offered $201 upgrade. No thanks.

The thing is, there are a lot of infrequent flyers who will bite at these offers. So, yes, the elite upgrade windows are definitely affected by this. Before the pandemic I would take advantage of some of these as a Plat when flying coach on the company dime. Depending on the route and timing, I didn’t mind spending some of my own money for the upgrade and extra EQMs.

AA will squeeze every penny they can out of ancillary types of revenue. The elite upgrades are pretty low in the pecking order any more.