"The good for me" people in this forum manage to see benevolence everywhere. AC remove/reduce eUpgrade nominee slots. Close down/restrict upgrade cert sharing (remember "upgrades you can share"!). Say we can upgrade someone at the airport, an environment where the probability of success for new upgrade request is practically zilch. We are happy. Some people must have unlimited supply of upgrade certs for new companions each time they step into an airport to make the new "enhanced" system a better option than the one replaced. I agree with the OP.

I managed to upgrade a FTer SFO-YYZ-SFO with 4 expiring eUps a month ago .

I don't "see benevolence everywhere"**. I see this change as something that works better for me.

It's not an unlimited supply of eUps, it's the fact that when you primarily fly in paid business and Latitude flight passes, eUps just don't get used as much. I'm looking at around 150 expiring next February (maybe a few less if I time some thresholds properly), unless I plan some big trips. It will definitely be over 100. I plan to nominate someone I know can use them, with one of my two nominee slots. It's still useful.

But I have no problem trading 2 of the 4 slots for the ability to upgrade anyone on the same flight.

** Tangoization of transborder routes and UA 50% are two recent changes that really hit me hard.

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That's true sometimes, but I know that often when I travel with family we're on separate PNRs. Often one ticket is a work ticket and the other(s) ar purchased separately or we might have slightly offset travel (differing final destinations)

the guy sitting next to me on this AM's YYC-YUL flight in J might not have been so happy to have been moved up from Y (last minute before push back).

A teen girl in Y behind did a projectile v*mit that he caught part of the "spray" as we were just taxiing for takeoff. The cabin was unbelievably warm before takeoff so that may have contributed.

over 4 hours and the stench was still there. They did bring lots of towels and cleaning stuff as well as an air freshener.

I could sympathize as I came down with something mid-flight (bad lounge food is all I could think of) on a YYZ-YYC after coming back from NYC and it is not comfortable having to deal with that with everyone else around you. At least I had easy access to the washroom and there was no "damage" to the cabin or other passengers!

Sometimes it may pay to stay put in Y with the screaming babies and bad food smells

Ditto, same here. Or, I'm on a flight pass, and the other person is on a regular paid ticket.

For me as an E50K, having 0 nominees really kills upgrades when I often travel with the same someone, but on different tickets.

Any chance it was YYZ Domestic March 15th?

But you can still upgrade someone who's on the same flight as you. You have to do it at the airport, sure, but this probably helps some people.

Who should have priority? The P25K upgrading themself? Or the spouse/friend/colleague of the E75K?

One of them has earned status, the other has not.

Do you think that same logic should apply to SEs (who still have nominees, I believe)?

The SE nominee (who hasn't earned status) can still U/G in advance of E75s, assuming R space.

Or do you think a different logic should apply then?

No, I don't think different logic should apply. I don't even have an answer to my question, because I see the merits of both sides of the argument.

That's why AC doesn't give us a clean answer regarding the travel companion upgrade waitlist priority at the gate.

I'm curious as to what motivated a leisure flyer like yourself to buy a latitude pass for almost double the price of a flex pass?

It was 53.4% more, not double, so let's get the facts straight
$5800 vs $8900 for the US version.

I paid a few $75 change and cancellation fees last year on the Flex pass. There were other times when it looked like another flight would have slightly better upgrade odds, but not enough to warrant a $75 fee.

There were other times when the flight I wanted was M0, and times where it was down to M3 at T-14, so I couldn't wait until my upgrade window to book.

And there were missed upgrades even as SE on M fare on SFO-YVR and YUL-YYZ (and more missed upgrades as I look back in time through different status levels).

So with the Latitude pass, aside from the 25% COS bonus, I can book all my flights for the year now, and confirm upgrades for 2 eUps each way. I can make any changes and cancellations I want to, at no cost. I can convert from R to J at T-48, and then I have what the airport agents see as a full fare business ticket, allowing me to do whatever I want at the airport. "Missing an upgrade" is no longer something that even remotely worries me when I book with it. And if something comes up last minute, I don't have to hunt for M availability (which is actually a problem more than you'd think when the route I'd be booking is SFO-YTO).

I have a growing number of elderly family members, if you get my drift, and there are less drastic events that might require I see family on very short notice. I haven't had to use the pass for this yet, and I hope I don't, but a full Y fare SFO-YYZ purchased one day in advance is $3356. That's more than the difference between the M pass and the Y pass, and it is not nearly as certain of a seat in business class as the FP. So in this sense, it's almost an insurance policy, that still pays out in other ways regardless of if I need to cash in.

But it really comes down to the value I place on $3100 compared to all those benefits. For me, the benefits win. And without going into specifics, AC sees a Latitude FP purchase as high revenue from one person, which has other benefits.

Last year, I did a fair bit of mileage running on UA in Y. This year, I've done some "jogs" where I take a weekend trip somewhere, and explore a new city, sit by a pool with a drink in my hand, or something else enjoyable. But I am not doing any MRs this year (excluding anything like EYW). The 25% helps me with that

I agree as an E50k, I wish I had at least 1 nominee. I have the situation where I tend to travel on one ticket for business and have a family member accompanying me. I've had a few tickets already this year and I would have bought little CdnFlier a Latitude ticket just for the instant upgrade if it was an option. Since it wasn't, Tango or Flex it was. Even if I knew that a Lat ticket for an companion same day airport upgrade would take priority I might have gone for it.

Ah well! I'll have my SE back soon enough.

We all used to be able to do that - P, E and SE. They took it away and now giving it back to SE as if it's jsuch a great thing.

They gave the ability back to everyone, didn't they?