I have been a CO member for a long time and have some miles from a long time ago. The wife and I are planning a trip to Europe next May and I have some questions on how the program works and the best way to maximize miles. Any information would be appreciated. I am still reading this forum, so please excuse my ignorance.

For our trip, we are planning to fly from Dallas to London for 3 weeks in May of 2011. I can't make reservations yet, so I am hoping I can learn enough to get the best benefit. I have enough OnePass miles for two round trip economy tickets, but I'm not sure the points are best used for economy tickets. So my questions are:

1. Are there any seat upgrades I can use OnePass miles on? Economy to Economy plus, Economy to Business/First? (yes, I tried the search with upgrades option and no flights show any possibility...)

2. Based on how the Continental site works, it looks like I have to wait until I can schedule my return flight before I can setup both flights. I'm trying to do this as soon as possible so I can get the best seats. Any tips on how to get good seats?

3. Based on the round trip, I get about 10k miles for the round trip. But can I get miles on my OnePass account for both mine and my wife's trip? Or do I have to have a separate OnePass account for her?

4. I am assuming I should buy economy tickets and earn points over time multiple ways to get enough for a nice Business/First class ticket?

5. I do have a Chase OnePass Plus Mastercard. How can that help?

1. Yes, you can buy economy seats and use miles+copay to upgrade to business. The information and rates are on CO�s website. You can�t use miles to upgrade to E+. If a flight doesn�t show upgrades available, you can waitlist for it. However, since it sounds like you don�t have status you�ll be at the bottom of the list.

2. Sooner is better. Also, be willing to take a double connection, like DFW-IAH-FRA-LHR. This has two advantages: lower taxes, since the UK has some steep taxes on premium cabins ex-UK and the possibility of flying FRA-LCY on the last leg, dropping you right in the center of LON.

3. You can only earn miles for the seat you sit in, your wife should have her own account where she can earn miles.

4. That�s one way to do it.

5. Not in any way I can think of, other than mileage bonuses which will help you save up points faster.

Also, if you're going to use OnePass miles to upgrade make sure all segments are booked under CO flight numbers, operated by CO. IIRC for UA codeshares you won't be able to upgrade until you get to the gate and then who knows if you'll actually get it.