Separate leg upgradeable tickets

There are a couple of threads already but I still don't understand.

If I want to buy Economy and then upgrade to Upper flying out in Feb and back a month later, what I do at the moment is wait until April when my March return opens then buy the tickets for both legs of the flight, then hunt for upgrades.

Is there a way I can buy my outward journey when it first opens in March and start the hunt for G? without a massive cost penalty.

Dick D

[Neil]

No, not really, it only really works if you are booking a full mileage redemption on the outbound.

Thanks Neil,
Makes sense now. I've been doing it right all along.
Dick D