Originally Posted by
cerealmarketer
I think there's a copayment for using UA miles to upgrade on UA as a non-elite -- 100 dollars or more.
If the flight you want has an exit row avail in advance, CO will give you more room than Economy Plus. I'd suggest using your CO miles to waitlist. You'll have airport waitlist priority ahead of most complimentary upgrades so your slim chance is somewhat less slim. And if it doesn't clear no miles are deducted.
I agree on this - exit row on CO is way, way better than any coach seat UA offers between SFO and JFK. If you can buy into E+ on SFO-EWR (often a 319/320, which are fantastic aircraft in E+), however, that would be a good choice. I'd probably pick CO if I could get an exit row; UA to EWR with an E+ buy up if not.