This is fishy. What upgrades expire on the 31st of January? The only upgrades I know of in the AS program are:

1. The MVP Gold guest upgrade coupons, which are confirmable at any time and are fully transferrable but expire (for everyone) on the last day of the year (i.e. not the last day of this month).

2. The B of A upgrade coupons which have the card-holder's name printed on them and can only be used by (a) the person named on the coupon or (b) another perons so long as the person named on the coupon is present at the airport at the time of redemption. What's more, these can only be reserved/redeemed on the day of travel so they are basically useless.

3. The upgrades given to elite members of NW airlines. These can only be used by NW airlines' elite members (and not even the low level elites - Gold or higher, no?) and can only be redeemed on the day of departure (unless on full fare Y, which is almost as much as full fare first class). I.e. they are pretty much useless.