I will obtain elite status with CO in the near future. I wanted to see how other elites deal with this issue.

Say you are traveling with a girlfriend/boyfriend or spouse that doesn't have elite status with CO. You either get the EUA or upgrade at the gate. Do you take the upgrade and leave your companion in the back or stay and be a good person? I mean isn't the whole idea of becoming elite the perks that go along with it, ie upgrades?

Currently my girlfriend says that if I leave her in the back that would be very rude and there will be consequences. I am primarily leisure traveler so I don�t think there will be many trips without her, so I may be getting elite for nothing.

A few options:

1. The girlfriend gets Elite so she can upgrade too.

2. You make it to Gold where you can companion upgrade her.

3. (and I'm being serious) You get another girlfriend. If she's going to threaten you like that, it's something to consider.

depends. are you guys even going to talk to each other? i know when i fly, regardless of who im with, im reading or listening to music. so it doesnt matter who im next to.

being the nice guy that i am, i do two things. use miles to upgrade myself and travel friend, spouse brother or parent, if the flight length and service so warrants, or i take my free upgrade and send my travel companion to the back.

then, after most people are seated i tell the FA that i am switching seats with someone in coach. i go to the person sitting next to my buddy and ask if they'd like to switch. you really make someone's day by giving them a free FC seat. some people are a-holes and wont switch b/c they think you've got a middle seat, and then you can be an ahole back and say ok, as they watch you walk back to FC. then at least your buddy (in your case girl friend) knows you tried.

dont let another elite see you doing that or they may raise a fuss and demand the FC seat b/c they have status and the little old lady you switched with does not.

First off, if you do decide to upgrade, make sure you're booked on separate PNRs, otherwise EUA won't run.

I do most of my flying solo, but on the rare instances when I'm traveling with others who are non-elite, I warn them well in advance that there's a possibility I may leave them behind in coach. Of course, they're not significant others, so retribution isn't really a concern for me

The way I usually sell this to them is by ensuring they benefit from my other elite perks (i.e. I get them priority tags on their luggage, bring them through the expedited security/check-in lines, and if I have any on hand, give them one of my free drink coupons. I also bring them with me into the PC, but that's not an elite perk). Usually my friends are happy with that and understand that I've put in more than my fair share of time in coach to earn these benefits, though I do get teased and made fun of...a price I'm willing to pay in exchange for sitting up front (I'd like to think my friendships are strong enough to survive leaving someone in the back of the bus! ). I haven't flown with a companion since making gold, but I suspect the possibility of a companion upgrade will make things a much easier sell.

As a silver I don't think this will be much of a problem since you will both be in the back. But if you don't follow Channa wise advice (always a risk) you can let your friend take the upgrade and enjoy the wounderful CO coach cabin.

Get a new girlfriend. Women are like buses--the next one will come by in 20 minutes.

in the few instances when I am flying with someone else (significant other or just a friend) I will just pay with miles to upgrade them. This is rarely a problem though. Most times I have travelling companions fly on another flight and we just meet up in destination city. I am usually coming from a work location and they are usually coming from home so this works for me.

I always used to try to give my GF the upgrade, but she would refuse. I figured that I got to use the upgrades on my regular travels, so on the vacation I'd sit in the back (bulkhead/exit row, of course). She always declined the offer, and always ended up regretting the decision (particularly on the SAN-EWR ).

To get around the problem I just had to convince her to go on a couple trips with me this year. EWR-YVR/ANC/SFO were three of them. Throw in a couple JAX trips and Presto! She gets her very own Silver Elite card and she gets to fight for upgrades just like me

If you manage to get elite on your own only on leisure travel but don't do any leisure travel without the GF, wouldn't she be elite also? Or, suck it up and be the nice guy on that one hour flight. She'll get a drink and the FC seat and you'll be the hero and hopefully get a much more rewarding prize

When travelling with my wife, who is silver, I rarely get any flack for accepting the upgrade and leaving her in back. For one, I am 6'4" and she understands the need for legroom. Two, I give up the cookie when the come around (or ask real real nice for more than one). Three, I am always reading and/or listening to music so it isnt like she is missing much anyhow. This year we have been lucky about 75% of the time via EUAs and mileage upgrades, so it makes it a little earlier. All this being said, I make darn sure that she gets silver every year so we can prevent a disgrunted significant other when travelling...

Even if you do manage to get both of you into F, I've found that there are often A-holes that refuse to switch seats with you so you can sit together. This has happened to us several times and always ruins our day.

When traveling with my sweetie, if we can't confirm both upgrades and that both F seats are together before boarding, we request to be put together in the back. The upgrades to us matter less than sitting together which appears to surprise most gate agents.

Maybe if you PAID for that F class seat that you are trying to switch to, you might feel a bit differently, or maybe not.

A friend of mine recently paid $7,000+ to fly to Paris on less than 24 hours notice. Fortunately, he was able to get the BF seat he wanted. After he was seated, he was approached by someone who wanted to switch seats with him so that person could sit with his friends. My friend refused because he didn't like the seat he would have had to move to. That person then had the nerve to ask the FA to ask my friend to switch with him without telling the FA that he had already asked and been turned down.

My friend was none too pleased and let it be known to the FA. The FA was very embarrassed when she learned the full story and said she never would have asked if she had known.

So the next time someone refuses to switch seats, consider that they may have paid thousands of dollars for a BF seat rather than a few hundred dollars that you may have paid for a Y seat.

Yes, there are a lot of people who arctually do PAY to sit in BF.

If your girlfriend has already let it be known that your sitting up front without her will be offensive to her, it seems like you have some serious thinking to do about your priorities and your relationship.

Maybe asking a therapist would be a better audience for your question.

I travel mostly solo for business as well but recently the whole family (3 of us) traveled on NW. I split the reservations to ensure we got at least one upgrade.

Then my wide and I split the FC seat on both legs. On one I got the meal and then halfway through we switched. On the second she got the meal and then we switched.

It worked fine for all even my 3.5 years old (although she's had a couple of FC flights herself) who got a little mommy and a little daddy time.

Note: if you switch mid-flight you must alert FA in advance. This measn askling in a courteous way...Would it be OK if I switched for the second half of the flight with my _____? She/he of course undrstands you can't feed them just want to give them the benefit of a more comfortable ride for part of the trip. Obviously only one of you gets food service.

I get upgrades all the time and although I don't love Y I can certainly tough it out when needed....

You could take turns...whoever got the FC seat last time you flew together gets coach this time, yadda yadda. Or go by who won the last argument...or was responsible for it. Flip a coin for it, whatever. But if she's going to be on most of your trips, why not try to get elite status for her as well?

It is funny sometimes...watching a platinum elite hubby take the FC seat, leaving his wife in a middle in coach - when you know she rarely travels and he's flying FC often! Course we never say anything, though I did offer one abandoned wife a drink on me since she was very obviously uncomfortable - and obviously feeling abandoned. Didn't seem like a great way to start their vacation...

That may be true, but we're talking about domestic First here, not BF. There are not EUA's to BF. But, I agree with your general point.