From Mr. Fish:
It seems that in this economy, CO is seeking to reward high-fare paying passengers. This high-fare paying Elite (business traveler on the company dime with choice of airline) purchases lower fares for his own personal travel (which in this particular case amounts to about 30,000 miles per year, on top of 75,000 miles on Y fares). Frustrations with being able to use miles for upgrading on personal travel, and being treated like a "problem" when flying on these lower fares (plus more, more, more) has caused this top level elite of 8+ years to rethink his travel options. Is it worth it to CO to lose this customer (and $50K plus yearly) over such issues?
Robin
(again, PLEASE edit for semantics lol)