I would expect that these aircraft will have a higher than normal zeroing out of I-class inventory and upgrading will be at the gate. Since these flights will be the prime routes initially, these are already selling out pretty well in revenue J/C, so space will be an issue at the best of times. Don't expect to be able to upgrade on AC856/857, AC's prime YYZ-LHR run, or its prime YUL-CDG daily, or on the HKG, NRT and SYD routes. These will get the suites first and except during the off-peak business travel times between Christmas and New Years, and over July and August, it will be tough upgrading.

Once the fleet is fully converted, things will return to some normalcy, but by that time -- 2008 -- AC will have squeezed the flexibility of upgrade certs even further, so who knows what upgrading will be like from lower fares then?