Welcome to CO land, JRA2000TL.

Although not related to your question, I'm about to wrap up my MS in Accountancy & CPA and have put some thought into one day going into the IA field...plus the IAH chapter of the IIA always has good lunches.

Moving on, CO for upgrades is not what it once was. If you can score gold (50,000 eqms) than you'll at least have the chance of snagging an exit row in advance. CO shines in it's normal, every-day operation and if getting from point A to B on time is critical, this factor should not be overlooked.

As for OnePass, higher coach fares will earn 100/150 % EQMs on DL (with their ATL hub) and NW (with their MEM hub), so partner options do exist for your MOB-East Coast flights.

Also NW has larger F cabins to more routes than CO so your chances of an upgrade with them are presumably better.

As for the EQM issues - try booking your flights as one ways instead of round trips.