Which brings up another point. I've had things messed up on flights where two of us have been on the same PNR, and I've had many flights where we were on separate PNRs (one paid ticket, one award, and I was told they weren't on the same PNR, but how would I really know?) and everything went fine.

I realize this is the subject for a separate thread, but is the value of a single PNR for multiple travelers somewhat over-rated?