EXP, traveling with my wife (on a separate reservation, but normally having also inherited my status).

For the outbound (GRU-LAX-HKG - fantastic use of the SWUs), we both cleared at time of booking for GRU-LAX; but for LAX-HKG, only one seat in C was available. I gave it to the wife, and wait-listed myself. About 2 weeks later - and about 2 months before the trip - I also cleared into business on the LAX-HKG. So far, so good.

For our return (PEK-DFW-MIA-GRU, with stopover in Miami) - we've both wait-listed on all sectors. When requesting the upgrades, I asked that we be allowed to clear one at a time, so that piece-meal release of seats wouldn't doom us to being constantly skipped on the list. My question is: since we both have the identical status (EXP with identical EQD, namely, mine) - if only one seat is available at a time, will the system clear her, or me first? Does it make any difference? If so, how can we influence this?

For now, the J seat-maps look pretty empty on PEK-DFW (AA262, 4-Oct) and MIA-GRU (AA995, 7-Oct) seem fairly open... but this is no indication of actual inventory still for sale, so who knows what sort of chances we actually have.

UPDATE: Just one day after posting the question above, my upgrade cleared into "C" for PEK-DFW, while my wife's did not. I called in to the EXP desk to ask if we could switch, and two separate agents told me this wasn't possible. Presumably, since I cleared, and she was supposed to have identical status to my own, she'd be next in line. But contrary to the policy posted here, these agents both told me that my wife's priority on the upgrade waitlist would only be based on her own status (none), not on mine. I have a hard time believing them, but if true, it's not cool. Until day of travel, I have no way to know where she is on the list - and if she hasn't cleared by then, if she's not listed correctly, I suppose it will too late to do anything about it. For something that's supposed to be a treat (SWU), this is much more annoying a process than it should be!