Idk if this is the right thread for my question but I'll start here.
Wife and I are flying R/T ORD-SJO (Costa Rica) next January-February, on award tix. (It's an amazing deal, only 20K/ea on the outbound.)
However UA award tix are either Economy or First Class, nothing in between, and even though we're not tall I'd really like to go for Economy Plus seating, preferably exit rows. Those would be a $149-$174 upcharge for each seat, BUT they're not available if you have a Basic Economy seat in the first place. In order to get from the award ticket to Economy Plus, I'd have to pay the (modest) upcharge for Preferred seats, then pay for Economy Plus. It'll kind of add up, and as it's four E+ upcharges, I'd be tempted to buy a subscription for Economy Plus for the year, thinking we'd likely have other United flights during the year.
Do I have this right, and does anyone have a better workaround?
I have lifetime Gold on AA, which regularly gets me better seats at checkin, and tried to do a status match earlier this year, but timed it badly, and didn't get enough United travel in to qualify for Silver for 2024. So obviously AA is my preferred carrier, but UA has the only nonstops ORD-SJO.
Thanks for any suggestions!