Ah, duh, I think I missed something here. All along I've been hearing that ELites do not qualify for BusinessFirst upgrades, which I can understand. But has it always been the case that you can, for a reasonably low fee, buy your way on?
My May OnePass statement (yes I'm behind because of that trip to CNS) states
"As an Elite member, you can upgrade a published Coach Class fare to BusinessFirst within 24 hours of your flight ..." Details indicate this could cost $275 or so one-way.
OK, now:
1) Has this always been the case?
2) What exactly is a "published Coach Class fare"?
3) Their example was a $50 savins on HNL or EWR to HNL. Can you do this (without the $50 savings) on any BF flight??