CO is hardly "better" than UA. From upgrade percentages to E+, to SWU, etc. UA has CO beat and has for a long time. I'm going to miss my first (our of 20 segs) upgrade on monday on BOS-IAD on a 319. But never fear, I have an E+ XR, so I don't much care. UA recognized that they could monetize a premium travel segment from NY to LAX/SFO, and created ps, which most UA flyers including myself, are big fans of. CO runs the same 738s they do for everything else, and as a result, they don't have enough F capacity, both from a revenue perspective and upgrades.

when CO was circling the drain, they had some sweet FF deals (such as the infinite plat which is now causing lots of angst..)