Low? They are much more than going through Expedia or elsewhere. Government fares must be fully refundable/changeable for official travel in accordance with GSA regs. They also have the CityPairs program that mandates the use of a specific airline between certain cities unless there is undue hardship on the traveller, which must be documented. The same holds true for rental cars, when authorized.

The only time I have ever received an upgrade is when I came out of pocket. I do enough European travel on my time to earn some good points as well.

As far as mission travel, the government pays zip and I don't believe the airlines receive a tax break. The airlines did, however, receive a nineteen billion dollar bailout from the government to stay alive and the security fees were created to help cover the cost of the FAM program and other initiatives.

Just my .02¢