Forgive me if this question is answered elsewhere - I couldn't readily find it, and I was too lazy to dig for it...

What happens when you are lowly Silver elite, traveling with a non-elite companion on the same record, when your turn comes up on the EUA computer? Does it upgrade you without companion? Upgrade you and ignore your companion? Upgrade you both (subject to availability)?

I know that Silver Elites are technically not allowed to upgrade their companions (although I have talked a kind agent into it before, I know its a long-shot). But I don't have any experience with it since EUA. Anybody know what happens?

As a Platinum, who has had 100% EUA upgrade success myself...when traveling with a non- elite companion, CO had my companion take their coach seat, until they were sure that no other elite needed that FC seat. The two times this occured, my husband did get a FC seat, but it was definately not automatic!

CO upgrades for companions are space available only....nothing automatic like AA and UA. One more reason to.... DENY CO THE FREDDIE!

Take a valium, please!

I seem to recall someone saying that if you were travelling with a companion, EUA might bypass you COMPLETELY.

For more information...
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum20/HTML/001813.html



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"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own."

You need to have differnet confirmation numbers (usually a combo of 6 letters and numbers) to be automatically upgraded with EAU. I confirmed this with onepass two weeks ago when flying with a friend that is not elite (thankfully knew this because of this board). Evidently the computer the computer looks at each confirmation and the lowest level frequent flyer number for the EAU. You can have them separate the record so that you can get the automatic upgrade if the reservation was made at the same time.

This past Sunday I was traveling with my girlfriend, I'm Gold, she has no status. EUA upgraded me two days out. I didn't know this since I didn't have access to my email account. First was full and my original bulkhead seat assignment was issued to someone else. So my choices were 2A or 24E. The airport staff had no idea even what EUA was.

It made for an uncomfortable time waiting for the flight....

My girlfriend insisted I take 2A since I would have trouble fitting into the center bulkhead seat between 2 large men. Good thing she doesn't hold a grudge.....

By the way, on our outbound flight last Wed. EUA did pass me over like it should have. We were both upgraded two hours prior as the rules state. We were traveling on the same record.

I just posted an explanation of why EUA skips over multi-passenger itineraries in another discussion. Here's the URL: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum20/HTML/001834.html

Regards,
RChavez

I have discovered that there is a PLATINUM PENALTY that goes into effect when two platinums travel together. The EUA will not upgrade either unless seats are available for both. If only one seat becomes available three days out it will go to a platinum traveling alone. If, two hours later, another seat becomes available, it will go to the next single traveler and so on... Then at the two and one day windows, both platinums could be bypassed and the seats filled with gold or silver travelers.

Again the only solution is to SEPARATE THE RECORDS. My husband and I are both platinum and we now request separate records after our flights are ticketed. Maybe if CO has to do this often enough they will find a way around the platinum penalty when both are on the same record.

Why the negativity? The rules tell you to split the records - so just do it. CO isn't doing anything wrong here. Just do as you're told and all is well. There's no "penalty" at all.

I''m "just" a gold - and my EUA success is 15 out of 17 segments (88%) since EUA - and the segments that didn't upgrade were both EWR-LAX - with a 757/biz 1st config - of course I wasn't going to get those.

As for companion upgrades - every NW segment that I flew with a companion got one (6 segments) and all but one CO (the ewr-lax that nobody got - including a plat that I was seated near).

I frequently travel with some of my team - from 5-10 of them at a time. I make sure my record is split in case the t/a puts us all on one record. It's a call that takes 3 minutes, and ensures: 1) my onepass # is in the record; 2) i can pre-assign my preferred seat in case the upgrade doesn't clear.

When my associates ..... about their seating, I simply tell them to call CO and ask for what they want - in advance (like, at time of ticketing).

I think EUA is fair - as long as EVERYONE plays by the same rules. Would anyone disagree that a plat should get an upgrade before a gold? Of course. Would I be pissed if a silver got an upgrade before a gold? Of course. Am I bummed when i don't get the upgrade? Of course. If the seats all went to plats, do i accept that if my status were higher, I could get the seats? Of course.

The system works - it's fair. If agents act on their own and override the computer, then it's no longer fair.

cpd