This question was recently asked and answered in this thread: Improving upgrade odds for couples,

Apologies and AA via chat says that if the PNR is split, my wife loses my Exec Plat benefits, is that true, as I thought linking 'shared' benefits. Is it worthwile to split or no advantage to do so with a SWU, as the chat rep claimed they would not skip over a couple for a single, that is all based on status and they would reachout if there were one spot and ask then if we wanted the PNR split.

There are 17 business seats showing availble on the 9/10 LAX to HND flight and from watchng things with the same flight this week and next, it appears that at about 6 days out, there shows SWU available on AA's website, so it looks SWU 'processing' might start maybe 6 days before said flight, does anyone have experience with the 115AM LAX to HND flight and SWU's and success rate? Thank you for any insight.

A couple things:
1. Your wife won't lose your Exec Plat benefits from splitting PNR so long as they link the reservations behind the scenes. Some things might become more difficult (e.g. you would have to call in to move her to an MCE seat for free) but shouldn't be lost.
2. The rep is incorrect that they will call you and ask if you want to split. That would *probably* happen if there was one seat available at the gate (depending on GA mood), but not if upgrades process prior to the day of the flight. I am 99% sure the advance automated system skips over couples when only one seat becomes available.
3. There is no magic about the six day period - seats might become available before, after, or never. I see two upgrades available for today's flight, but almost none after that for the next several weeks.

Thank you Mr BoH, I appreciate your response. So to me, it seems like there are no negatives in splitting the record, as we already have MCE's from LAX to HND, so that would be a non issue and it appears the upside for the possible clearing of an SWU (if they only become available one by one) is better than any downside to splitting the record. If we split the PNR and I, the exec plat, got the upgrade, she would be on the waitlist with my status still, correct, even though I would have cleared and my SWU would have cleared?

Thank you again, I appreciate the education!

I called AA EP line twice and both reps said there is no advantage to splitting the PNR with regard to the SWU clearing, as they both said if the PNR is split, my wife would not retain my plat exec status (assuming I cleared) and be a no status for her SWU. Is that accurate? They keep saying there is no advantage to splitting the PNR and there are negatives to do so. Confused, thanks.

There is one disadvantage to splitting PNR: Pax will not have your baggage allowance. In the past, at the time I setup the SWU waitlist request, I specify split/no-split. Supposedfly the automated system will split the PNR when it processes a single aavailble upgrade if set to "split" if I am up next. In fact, this did happen once. I then called to ensure the spilt off PNR pax was liked to my account still requesting the SWU upgrade, and they did clear a couple of days later. Others seems to have reported status loss in the past doing it this way, especially when tranferring to airport waitlist if the other pax was already status, just not EXP. But it worked as advertised for me - but it was a number of years ago, and there have been a lot of changes. But if they still ask about spiltting when you go on the waitlist, I'd hope it still worked this way.

Thanks Madison Guy, but the baggage allowance is a non issue, as it is an international flight, my main concern if the PNR splits is that my wife, with no status, will be at the bottom of the list, as I was always under the impression when the PNRs are linked, the status of the elite member is applicable to the linked PNR. It's crazy, as the AA exec plat line can not give a definitive answer here, but they all claim they would not do it and. there really is no good reason to do it. Very confusing. Thanks!

I can confirm for my trip as recently as last week, my wife and I split the PNR and linked the two. We showed up as #3 and #4 on the upgrade list out of ~40 people (she has no status). We got the upgrade on the outbound flight but not the returning. But she definitely inherited my status on the upgrade list both ways despite separate PNRs.

Thanks and that was using SWUs?

�they� don�t really know as there is no published reason it makes sense, this forum is telling you about practical experience on the topic which isn�t really something an agent is going to know or speak to, and there is no definitive answer as there is an algorithm which dumps swu seat availability into the system there is nothing published that says it will be one seat at a time but my experience says that is how it works, we do know that unless there are two seats you get passed over, and no you aren�t getting called, it is all automated, no human is watching the process at that level, in the end your best chance is splitting the pnr but there are no guarantees

This one was on a comp upgrade since within North America. But my experience is similar using SWUs.

Thanks all for sharing your experiences, as i split the pnr, so we shall see. I appreciate you all!

One thing with SWUs, though, is whoever is using the SWU doesn't always inherit the status of the sponsor. For example, if I use the SWU for a non-status friend on a flight I'm not on, he will be at the bottom of the UG list -- i.e., he doesn't appear to inherit my EP status. I've also seen this happen with SWUs when we're on the same flight yet I booked F/J and am trying to use a SWU for him -- i.e., he doesn't appear to be inhering my status as a companion the way he would with domestic upgrades. I caveat all of this by saying it's not always crystal clear in some situations since the upgrade list doesn't show rolling LPs, one's current status, or the instrument being used.

(I don't have any of these issues with domestic upgrades, even when I buy F and I list him as my companion. He's clearly listed as an EP based on his order on the list, usually #1 or #2.)

Interesting situation where my spouse and I are traveling on a two-leg one-way flight tonight. I split us on the upgrade list to try to get upgraded.

I got upgraded last night, right before 24 hours, with four more seats open. I noticed that she only had an upgrade requested on the first leg of the flight, so I called the EXP to have it added back in (lesson learn to check all legs). They added her (I confirmed it was updated on the app).

Today, when the waitlist was posted, she was not on the waitlist for the second leg ( I could see myself at two and her at three on the first leg). I called the EXP line again, and they said they added her to the waitlist. As I was on the phone, they cleared three people off the waitlist into first (not her), and she is still not on the waitlist (10 minutes later). What am I doing wrong?

And I see they just added her to the waitlist after someone else got cleared to the seat, so there are now no seats available.