Ummm... if you recognize the odds are slim (which they are, particularly with only 3 free seats nearly 4 weeks out on the return) why did you buy an H fare? Still worse, why did you buy an H fare and complain about it here, showing that you recognize you haven't chosen your fare wisely (at least on the information given here)?

Look, I'm with you on the difficulty of using CO miles. It's not impossible, but it's certainly not easy. But if you're paying, then the H fare seems a pretty poor investment here. Much better to save $1600 this time and use the miles some other time - even for Easypass, if you can't be bothered to look for partner awards and can't find a CO saver award. Or, if you don't want award trips, and instead what you really want are easy-to-obtain international upgrades for business trips, try moving to another airline. But please stop posting these kinds of complaints. If there's no chance of an upgrade, deal with it, buy the cheapest coach fare, and move on.