Update to my earlier post: UA.com still wants $49 per leg to move to E+ for my EWR-DEN itinerary at the end of the month. Gambled and called the domestic reservations line (a/k/a India) this afternoon, identified myself as a CO elite (didn't mention level) and requested 9A on both my outbound and return. Had the seats in 5 minutes, and the reservation was updated online immediately. (I'm sure it helped that E+ was relatively empty, but hey, I'll take it.)