Originally Posted by
jakpot
Totally agree, this is something new and only introduced in 2023 as a part of the dynamic pricing approach I suppose.
However, I don't face these issues with EK or BA so makes more sense to focus efforts there and avoid Etihad altogether.
If award seats in Business are available, both BA and EY will process upgrades under the normal pricing.
As far as I know, you can't upgrade at the airport with Avios on BA (although you can on QR), so I don't think that going with BA will solve this particular issue of airport upgrades with EY.
EK does have airport upgrades for the usual price, which has been very helpful.