Some clarification on American's upgrade costs.

Yes, eight 500-mile stickers cost 30,000 miles. Not worth it. But 16 stickers cost 40,000 miles, or 2,500 miles for every 500 miles of upgrade. On a coast-to-coast itinerary, this means you would need 10 stickers, which translates to spending 25,000 miles (at the 16-sticker redemption rate), as long as your trip doesn't exceed 2,550 miles each way (American gives a 50-mile leeway for the required number of stickers).

25,000 miles is a better deal than 30,000 miles for an upgrade award. Yes, I know that the award is confirmable when you buy your ticket, but if you're a Platinum, you'll get the upgrade 72 hours ahead of time better than 90% of the time. Plus, who wants to use 30,000 miles to upgrade a shorter trip than coast-to-coast?

For the record, JFK-LAX is 2,475 actual flight miles, but trips involving connections through Chicago or Dallas and most other coast-to-coast itineraries come out to more than 2,550 miles.