Sad to say, but that is basically the same deal as CO, which also means I'll 'pay to play' their game. As a Platinum on CO, I generally pay anywhere from $900-1300 + miles to upgrade on European flights, and so far have been 100% successful (in approximately 25 r/t overseas). So if DL's upgradable fares are similar (which seems to be the case), I don't have a problem. As far as DL's bucket of seats, it can't be any worse than CO's policy of no seats released prior to 30 days, and non at all released within 72 hrs of flight--so in that regard CO also flys BF with 'empties'. As long as I am aware of the stipulations, I'll make my early, high priced DL reservations and take my chances for that seat up front to NCE or SCL