I'm balancing keeping my Alaska 75K/OWE this year with finally crossing the 1MM mark with AA for LT Gold (the only real benefits I use are MCE, priority boarding and baggage allowance). That puts me in the bucket of "if I want up front, buy up front," but AA makes this incredibly difficult. Example: AUS-MCO - $210 in economy, over $1800 in domestic F. I'd pay up, but not 9x the price, especially for a sub-3hr domestic flight. On trips like that, MCE is just fine and I get that at booking as Alaska 75K.

Contrast that to Alaska, where AUS-BOI was $179 in the back and $229 up front. Even though I'd probably get the upgrade, paying an extra $50 to be up front AND get the EQM bonus makes that an easy choice.