Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: A festering pit; a pustule of a fistula set athwart the miasmic swamps of the armpit of the Gulf of Mexico - a Godforsaken wart upon a dark crevasse of the World. (IAH)
Programs: UA Lifetime Gold, BA Silver, Marriott Lifetime Plat, Hilton Gold, Accor Gold
Posts: 31,403
Only Air Astana Gold is elite and rarified enough to secure black-market upgrades with Continental. You have to know the secret handshake, though.
To solve your upgrade woes, you might just check to see whether CO is offering paid upgrades the day of your flight. CO will often offer such upgrades either via online check-in, or at the kiosk, if such are available (after all elites have been upgraded).