Upgrade options for flight ticket booked on American Express Travel

[knagelli]

Hi Experts , we have booked VA flights(QR operated flights ) to Europe on the Amex travel website and the fare type at the time of booking was "choice"( economy in QR ). I want to explore the option to upgrading to business/first but the VA customer crew told me that as the flight is operated by Qatar , I cannot upgrade using velocity points. And the QR Privilege Customer Service mentioned that I cannot upgrade as I used a travel operator and that I need to contact my travel operator ( Amex Travel) for the upgrade options.

Can someone please shed some light on the best possible move to ensure we are successful in upgrading either using points or revenue.

Thanks for your time and suggestions.

Note : VA/QR Platinum if it matters anywhere.