Originally Posted by
brizone
Last week on MCO-SEA in 6A+B, just before departure I was upgraded at T-20. My companion on the PNR was MVP, but they had only one seat available which they gave to me.
I chalked it up to a non-standard gate procedure at an AS end-node (can't see that happening in SEA), but it does happen.
One it's under gate control anything can happen. The gate agents can do whatever they want. There is a procedure that they are supposed to follow -- whether they do or not is another story. This is why I always go say hi to the GA when my number on the list is smaller than the number of F seats available. (ETA: The procedure that I'm talking about here is asking before they split you)
But the upgrade processor will skip you if there is not enough U space for your whole party.