Let me do an omnibus reply:

1. I'm aware of YUP's (book into "P"), however, didn't mention them because, in my view, they are useless. You get the worst of all worlds. QUP's (at least the ones I've been buying lately) are refundable for less money. YUP's for PHL-SFO-PHL price out around $2200 --- $800 more than QUP's (refundable) and only $400 less then FULL F! At the same time, YUP's are still technically treated as upgraded coach tickets. I agree with those on the board who say that QUP's and YUP's are really F tickets, however, if you run into irregular op's, you'll be told it's a coach ticket and they will not give you the same treatment as a full F -- no downgrading upgraders or re-routing on another carrier in F for irregular op's -- I've been there (and argued it --and lost the argument), I know. So, first, the YUP's (at least in my primary markets) are no good. Too much money for too little return. Second, the YUP's are only slightly easier to find in my markets (PHL-LAX-PHL; PHL-SFO-PHL) even if I was (which I'm not) willing to pay a huge premium for a YUP over a QUP fare.

2. I prefer UA because their service is much better than US. As a CP on US, I can get the upgrade 99% of the time for FREE with e-upgrades off a discounted coach fare since US primarily flies their 26-F A321 buses on transcons. The point is, I'm willing to pay more for UA (i.e. QUP), but not full F, as a rule.

3. CO is a fine airline with a great product, however, they just have inconvenient routing for me.

4. Colin - my natural question is, where's the better product in exchange for charging more? UA has been jacking up fares across the board while at the same time I've seen (i) hot lunches on mid-cons vanish; (ii) printed menus on non-ps transcons vanish; (iii) hot towel service on transcons become sporadic at best; (iv) no more ice cream sundaes for dessert on mid-cons at dinner; (v) no more S&P shakers on non-ps domestic F flights; (vi) paper tray liners instead of linen...oh, I guess I should stop there. That's the problem, the product has been getting worse while the price has been steadily rising.

5. I generally try to book them 1 to 2 months out. Even when booking well in advance, the QUP's are very tough to find in my markets.

The point of my OP was not to disparage UA's product, rather, I was just expressing my view that it would be nice if UA kept closer in line with what other carriers are doing and make more (certainly not all, but some) of their F inventory available as A. Frankly, most of the UA transcons out of PHL have 8-F on a A319 and A-0. I just think they should make a few seats available in A. In practice, I think everyone here must agree that they are NOT going to sell 8 out of 8 at full "F" pricing on each (or even most) of the flights.