I just down downgraded from PE to General member. Oh well. However I have plenty United trips coming up.

I was wondering if there's a way to trade in miles for Economy Plus Access.

I see there's a way to do that if you have a United/Chase Visa, but I do not. I would even sign up for it, but I'm flying out next Sun and the sign-up pages says that it takes 6-8 weeks before you can pay for E+ Access with miles.

Also curious if I pay for E+ Access this week, how long to wait before I can change my seat assignments?

As always, Thanks in advance.