I’m currently booked on the following itinerary for HNL-LAS in June:

1. HNL-ITO United 7832 (Hawaiian)
2. ITO-LAX United 1563 (Continental)
3. LAX-LAS United 774

4. LAS-LAX United 877
5. LAX-OGG United 544
6. OGG-HNL United 7812 (Hawaiian)

I’m currently OnePass Platinum and MileagePlus Premier Executive, but my reservation is with 2 others who have no status whatsoever, and I’m wondering if I should or should not split the PNR to increase my chances of an upgrade.

From what I understand on CO metal, my chances are increased if I split my PNR, but on UA metal, the opposite is true. I have some questions based on each of the airlines’ upgrade policies:

Is there any hope of getting upgraded on flight #2 above (ITO-LAX) without splitting the PNR? What would be the best way to increase my chances for getting EUA?

If I don’t split the PNR would it be possible to get the UDU for flight #5 above (LAX-OGG)? From what I read on the United website, I don’t have to do anything and they will put in an upgrade request for me and one of my companions. Will they still do this if I have 3 people on my reservation?

I’ll be very glad when CO and UA are one airline and have one EUA/UDU upgrade policy, as it is currently I get very confused.

Your chances are greatly improved of getting an EUA upgrade for ITO-LAX if you split the record. With multiple pax on the same record, you won't be elligible for an upgrade until the gate.

IUnited will not automatically process a UDU upgrade for a reservation with more than 2 passengers. If you and one companion would like to upgrade on UA, then you must split off the third passenger.

The best way for you yourself ensure you yourself alone have the best chance for an upgrade would be to split yourself onto your own single-passenger record. Then on the CO flight you could add one companion to the upgrade list at the airport. On UA neither companion would be elligible for an upgrade.

I agree! Although it's not so much confusion that I strive to eliminate, but rather the predicament where one configuration of PNRs/FFNs works best for the outbound, and another configuration works best for the return.

Thanks for the quick reply. I guess my best bet is to split the PNR. I made the reservation on united.com since I couldn't find the same fare on continental.com? Should I just call United and ask them to split the PNR for me? I've already paid the E+ fee for my third companion to sit in E+, however my second companion is in E+ because they were on the same PNR as I am. Will my second companion get kicked out of E+?