Originally Posted by
MBS PremExec
I think the key here is the highlighted part. Most FFers do travel alone, so it works on the other side too--there really aren't that many folks with status traveling with companions taking up your upgraded seats. But the rare occasion that a 1K wants to take his/her spouse or friend along, I think for most people, an upgrade is an all-or-nothing thing...So if the wife/husband doesn't clear, then neither does the 1K--If the 1K isn't declining the upgrade, there's a good chance he's swapping seats with the other person anyway.
The CO way just seems SOOOO needlessly complicated and cumbersome. If you split the reservation--or book separately to begin with, your companions are also losing their ancillary bennies like E+ seating, free checked baggage--all benefits that can be extended to other travelers, because they have to be on the same reservation. Then you have to add them to the upgrade list at the airport.
I think they should just offer more options, like when you login to .bomb, it should have options for:
1) Upgrade me, if an upgrade becomes available - I am willing to sit apart from my companion. I understand that my companion MAY be upgraded later, at the gate, but this is not guaranteed.
2) DO NOT upgrade me unless you can also upgrade my companion - I'd rather sit with my companion than sit in F
When I was flying back to the mainland from Hawaii, I (a 2P) got a UDU on the flight, but I also observed a 1K couple heading for their seats in E+. I think this is fair, as otherwise, someone with no status at all could potentially have taken the last F seat, putting me back in E+. FWIW, my brother didn't get an upgrade on this flight -- I tried to have him added to the list at the gate, but the gate agent said that F was full, so we ended up sitting in separate sections on that flight.