I have a family of four and usually fly AA w/them for vacations, so this drives me nuts. Splitting PNRs can really screw things up. What I do is book everyone together and select the best seats I can for my kids. Then I call AA and request an upgrade for my wife and I. ^ The kid's seats aren't affected. My wife and I absorb the bags. We all get to priority board together b/c at least one person has status. This has worked well in the past. The downside is when there are irregular ops. I've suffered that and having 2 PNRs does complicate things.