craz

Ok I was called away finished my post , only to see you beat me to it.

Your 2nd pt can be a problem , if they wait to decline it at check-in and 1 already got FC then theres a very good chance in todays times that the plane will be full and they wont end up sitting togther.

True they can offer the person next to teh wife the FC seat but if that person is sitting next to their wife they will probably decline it as well, thusly a result of not being able to sit next to each other. As once the UP clears your Y seat assignment is gone and open for anyone else to grab.

I would highly suggest not to wait till the check-in counter to undo anything

channa

If they're two together on one PNR, they won't be upgraded in the first place.

craz

so its a Both or None , Interesting

Only a few months ago was I traveling with someone else on my PNR, 99.99% of the time Im traveling alone

nightan

This past weekend me and the wife were on a trip to SFO. She's an elite, I'm not. On the outbound my BP had Elite Access on it, and she made the UG at the gate. On the return, she got the UG T-24 and when I printed the BP mine did not have the Elite Access printed on it. Though it was not an issue I gave both BP's (her's on top) and boarded with her. On a side note, her confirmation # were different even though we had booked the tkts together. Was that because of her UG?

dergon darkhelm

I bet she split your PNRs. O/w she wouldn't have been eligible for the upgrade with your non-eliteness dragging her down.

aacharya

Agree. Not sure what she did on the outbound, though. Maybe she didn't split the PNR, and just got the battlefield upgrade (vs EUA).

SuperG1955

My understanding is that the EUA on the outbound splits the PNR automatically.

sbm12

I believe that any time the two passengers end up in different cabins the PNR is split.

SpartanFlyer86

Bringing this thread back to life after a year of inactivity.

I believe there still might be some ambiguity out there on this issue and I want to see if anyone else has had any other experiences.

Recently, I traveled with a friend of mine who is non elite and we had booked together on the same PNR; called the elite line to split it up so i could clear the upgrade list. At the check in counter, they said he could not get the benefits of the baggage allowance and didn't have EliteAccess on his BP etc.

My guess is because he received the new PNR on the split. Should he have kept the original PNR and I received the new PNR or does that even matter?

Thanks.

ijgordon

The co.com website indicates that elite companions are exempt from the bag fee "as long as they are traveling in the same reservation". However, it has been documented here on FT that the official policy waives checked bag fees for elites who were originally booked in the same reservation, which was subsequently divided. There's even a "GG" code you can give the agent for him/her to look up the policy, it's probably listed in the FAQ thread.

As far as other companion benefits, some private communication with CO Insider revealed to me that non-elite companions on a separate reservation are also eligible for free Extra Legroom seats, and that policy was to have been communicated/clarified internally very recently.

I'm still unclear on whether non-elite companions on separate reservations (originally booked together) are eligible for elite pricing of confirmed flight changes (e.g., free for Plats). I was able to get an agent to waive the fee for my companion recently, but it took a couple of calls (and a supervisor's offline intervention).

Interesting question. The CO website lets you choose which passenger(s) to split out into the new PNR. It seemed more logical that my companion's reservation would retain its elite "status" if I split myself onto a new reservation, but that didn't happen. I don't know whether the outcome would have been any different if we had done it the other way. And it certainly didn't seem easy for one of the agents to confirm that we were originally booked together, in fact, she first thought that both reservations were made on the day that I split them.

belynch

Yup. This is one of many glaring deficiencies in the way CO handles companions and upgrades. Despite what a few people will inevitably chime in and say, it's needlessly confusing for both employees and passengers, and creates a potential host of issues and problems. You brought up just one.

Every time I travel with a non-elite companion, whether it's a colleague or personal, I offer to do things like check their bag for them to avoid the fee. It's the easiest work-around (and to-date, hasn't been an issue, as I don't think I've personally ever checked more than one bag).

As far as the balance of the EA benefits (boarding, security, etc.) your companion can use the EA security line (if available) and can board with EA (if they aren't trampled).

sbm12

I believe this would "solve" the problem.

Yes, there is a GG code to reference in the FAQ that should fix it at the counter should it come up but the CO systems are somewhat lacking in this regard because of the way their EUA scheme works on multi-passenger itineraries.

elitefreak

Flew over the weekend (Plat with non-elite friend). Separated PNR, got upgraded (his Plat companion W/L didn't clear).

BUT his boarding pass clearly showed Elite Access.

I checked our two bags under my reservation so I can't comment on the luggage aspect.

lindaiah

My non-elite friend can't select a seat on an upcoming flight because none are available behind the elite section. Can I call to have our PNRs combined and select a seat for him? I'm already in F, and will probably want to try the Companion route on the departure day ( hope springs eternal, blah blah blah, but anyway...) but in the meantime, I'd like to get him a seat in Y so he isn't in danger of being assigned to a middle seat at some point.

I have his one pass # and his confirmation #, but not his PIN.

sbm12

Nope.

It is even harder in that CO doesn't like PNRs with passengers in different cabins so that would make it less likely since you're already upgraded. Any you're not calling to have him sit with you so I cannot imagine that CO would be too happy to waive the rule just so a friend of an elite can get a good seat.