Although I realize this is general question (and posted in the correct forum) you might want to see what airline schedule/fare looks best and then try re-posting in that forum, or perhaps search UA, AA or other majors. I have seen this discussed before - most airlines will accommodate but you have to telephone so that they get the name and checkin right.

In our case we are using an award seat for the middle seat, hopefully no problems. Given the difficulty making advance reservations for international premium class award seats at saver levels I think this is a strategy that we'll see employed more often in the future.