From what I gather on here, the "solution" to having your companion inherit the higher person's status for upgrades once it gets to airport control is to not have the lower-ranked person's AAdvantage number in the reservation. Some questions...

• If I've already made the reservation, how do I remove the AAdvantage number for the lower-status person? Is the only way with a call to the EXP desk (or is there a way to do this at AA.com)? Is there anything I should be cautious of when doing this that I (or the EXP agent) can screw up the reservation?
• If I do this, what's the right process for getting the lower person's account credited with the Base Miles/Loyalty Points after the trip?
• Does this need to be done before the first flight in the total trip takes off? Or can it be done mid-trip (ex: already flew the outbound, but the return is in a few days)?
• Any other negative consequences I should be aware of?

Thanks!
-Matt

From my experience, you have to call in to get this done or do it at the airport. I've found that some agents simply don't know how to do this. On a recent trip, my traveling companion was on a different PNR. I called ahead and the person I talked to said that everything was taken care of. But after checking in, my companion wasn't listed with me. At the airport, the agent said that she couldn't do this if we weren't on the same PNR (incorrect). In my connecting city, I went to the Admirals Club agent and the agent was able to do what two others could not do. She told me that in order to inherit the status, they remove the FF# of the companion, which then moves the companion to your status, and then they add back in the companion's FF#. That seemed to have worked, as my companion received the appropriate upgrades and miles for the trip.

When I've tried this at the airport, it's a 50/50 proposition that an agent knows how to do this. Thus, I'm trying to take care of this ahead of time.

Ideally, I'd like to avoid the situation you had when you called in, the person said it was all set, but you found out at the airport that it wasn't.

Is there anything specific I should say when calling in to make sure that this is completed correctly?

I have had to ask for a manager more than once at the check-in desk to get this done. It is ridiculous.

However, isn't this problem supposed to be fixed by now?

As of early January, it definitely is still not fixed.

By calling in to do this in advance with the EXP desk, any specific phrases I should be looking to use to make sure they do this correctly?
Also, for the flyer whose AAdvantage number I remove, what's the best way to go back to get their miles after the trip is over?