Thanks for moving my query to the right place, WineCountryUA!

And thanks for the correction. The Award tickets are showing an upcharge for 'Preferred' seating, but it does look like I could go directly to E+. Either way I'm paying something extra to not sit in back of the plane.

I booked the outboound flight some weeks back, to lock in the Saver award, and I see now that I can pick E+ seats and pay with miles, though they're relatively expensive: 14K-17.4K pts. However booking the return tix as an award, I can only choose E+ seats by paying cash. I guess UA wants to get the $ if they possibly can. Maybe if I go ahead and book it I can add the E+ seats with miles later.

ps: Of course, I'd only get the subscription 'with one companion.' (Have you seen the Reddit threads and various newspaper stories about the guys (always a guy!) who wanted to fly in First leaving wife and kids back in Economy? Yikes.) Adding 'Global' is only another $100, which seems like a bargain, relatively.