AC respects its status flyers by operating a fair upgrade system by not selling those seats for peanuts to anyone. There is a balance between revenue and loyalty. I know I won’t get an upgrade each time but I’ll sit in a comfortable seat on every flight. A friend recently told me WS bid upgrade for SFO to YYC started at $80….not likely there will be many seats for status upgrades with those rates. Also, WS rewards pales in comparison to the reward spectrum I have access to with Aeroplan.