Hi all,

I've booked myself and a group of 5 seniors in my family for a weekend getaway in celebration of my dad's 75th bday. We fly T+ class (ie. not a reward booking) YYZ-BDA-YYZ in Feb.

Questions:

- I am the only one with status (SE) in the group. Plus I have Amex Plat with MLL access - how many guests does that entitle me to access the MLL? I'm hoping that they'll consider my parents dependents, but that leaves another 3 in my group. Barring using MLL vouchers, anyone have any ideas for sweet-talking the agents to let my whole group in?

- What is the potential for an op-up (if even possible) given that we're flying out on my dad's actual birthday? I'm not looking for the whole group, just my parents - it would be a great start to their weekend. But I don't want to use e-upgrade credits for the short flight. What's the best way to approach this with the gate agents, and how many boxes of chocolates should I take to the airport? At the moment there are no seats sold in J for our flight.

Anyone have any suggestions or advice? Even saying 'forget it' or 'no chance' is appreciated. Thanks so much!