Interesting. Outbound we cleared at the gate; we were #2 (me, Exec Plat) and #3 (him, no status), with at least a half dozen behind us. Inbound, we cleared together at the Exec Plat 4-day window.
boerne, what you describe also conforms to what has happened to my wilfe (when she was Plat) and me (when I was Exec Plat) traveling together: Upgrade together if in advance, split at the gate. So I don't dispute what you are saying. However, PhxFlyGuy seemed to be asking about the combination status + no status, and since I had a very recent data point (with window and at-gate clears), I thought I should post about that.
I agree that there is something inconsistent about all of this.