i am gold elite. i am pretty sure that when i have any fare and check in on the lmachines at the EWR it gives me the option to upgrade right there, and prints out my status etc. on the boarding pass. however the same option is not given to me for my companion... yes when we get to the gate and i hand it over to the woman at the gate counter we can both ge tupgraded from time to time, but i prefer to not have to deal with the people as mistakes can be made and the process can be frustrating. can i buy 2 tickets on different itineraries and put my ff # on both? I would assume that if i did this when we checked in seperately on the electronic check in machines that it would try to upgrade us then and there. am i way off?