Originally Posted by
StuckinITH
However, if I understood the things correctly, if they open R1, UA will bypass a reservation that needs R2 and upgrade the next waitlisted passenger that is alone.
I’m not 100% sure if they do that or not, but in practice it doesn’t matter, because anybody can snipe an upgrade when it shows R1, whether they’re already on the waitlist or not.
So, yes, for the best chance of clearing at least one upgrade, split the reservation and watch for R to show up, because they don’t always clear the upgrade list promptly anyway.