So I just booked myself and a friend some Aeroplan tickets for New Years. I had to come back on the 1st, but he's coming back on the 2nd, so they had to be separate bookings (although an agent mentioned I should do two one-ways - not until Jan 1 ).

Anyway, I called the SE desk, and they wouldn't put my friend in preferred seats because he's on a different reservation

I figured it was a HUCA situation, so I called the E75K line, hoping for some variety, but I got the same story. Really friendly agent though.

Is this really the case? I know with United, Premier members can call in and get non-premiers on the same flight moved to E+, and it makes sense. There are lots of perfectly legitimate reasons to have separate tickets (different return dates, corporate policy, etc.).