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This is actually the same policy at BA.
At airport/online upgrades specially priced upgrades are now only available ‘by invitation’. Upgrades by difference in fare is of course available to all passengers.
It’s pretty easy to see why airlines have taken this track. It’s not difficult with tools like expertflyer etc to find out how busy a flight is in a premium cabin. Airline software has always come in leaps and bounds in monitoring passengers travelling/booking and even browsing habits.
So you need to book a ticket. Usually you buy Business Class but the last couple times you’ve travelled you’ve noticed it’s cheaper and relatively easy to pay economy and upgrade with cash. At booking stage let’s say economy is £500, Business is £1800. You check expertflyer and see that Business Class is very quiet. So, you book Economy confident in the assumption you can nab an upgrade at the airport for c£500. Are you even going to consider buying business class?
It’s all about the money honey! 🙂