This will be my first UA flight since 3/3, and I have to say that the upgrade issues posted here on FT have me a bit concerned.

I have a 3 pax PNR for myself and family (wife and teen son) that was booked on the CO website before 3/3; we are all confirmed in an E+ exit row on both the outbound and inbound (nonstop) segments. It is a transcon flight so worst case I don't want to lose the exit row seating while still shooting for upgrades.

Outbound leg is RN4/R4 as of today (7 days out) and the return flight is RN0/R0 (12 days out). I was considering applying a Regional upgrade cert to my wife's ticket which I believe would split her off into seperate PNR leaving myself and my son to go for Complimentary upgrades (Plat + companion).

Questions...

If I can only confirm the outbound upgrade for my wife, will she lose her return E+ seat assignment when split off into a seperate PNR (since she has no status) Will she lose her free baggage allowance for the return as well? How can I preserve these benefits?

Once I get the PNR with myself and son down to 2 pax, will the complimentary upgrades process automatically (3 days out) together based on my own status, which I understand to be the advertised benefit?

If I do none of the above and leave the 3 pax PNR as is it would seem that I would protect our E+ exit row seating but eliminate the chance of an upgrade in advance (of day of departure) - is that correct?

Any other advice for this situation is appreciated.