Quick questions (and now Answers) on processing RPUs and CPUs within <24 hours of departure:

(1) A friend is using RPUs to upgrade 2 people (not himself), ETD is 24 hours. Does it matter if they checkin before the RPUs are applied, or should they wait?

Answer: RPUs were manually processed with immediate confirmation prior to checkin. I gather this could still be done even if passengers had checked in.

(2) Myself +1 companion are currently on CPU list, ETD is 24 hours. Do we need to checkin for the flight in order to get on the CPU waitlist? Agent told me plenty of space is available. Reservation shows "CPU requested"

Answer: Checkin not required to process CPUs. They were automatically processed by SHARES within a few minutes after splitting reservation into party of 2.

Thankfully this ended well as the E+ seats immediately disappeared from inventory which would have made for some challenging (re)seating with young children.