This may not be so easy, as wouldn't it have to go to the person seated next to your daughter?

(If the daughter is in, say, "14A", but the next elite is in "31D"...then you would be in 31D, while the daughter is in 14A).


IMO, 11 is old enough to sit alone on the plane, if she is well behaved. Thus, I would give her the upgrade, and tell her to sit up front and be good. Turning down an upgrade is a "last resort"...you need to keep that benefit in the family...

Delta thinks an 11-year-old (or a 6-year-old for that matter) is old enough to sit alone in the same cabin as a parent, but not old enough to sit in a different cabin.

And yes, the logistics of the upgrades and how they affect seating are among the perils of separate PNRs. I don't think parents should have to give up all chance of an upgrade for themselves and their child from the outset, but they do have to monitor the situation and cut bait early enough to get seats together in coach if it looks like both upgrades won't come through.

OP - Do not do this. This situation may well be resolved by DL's automated system earlier in the process and not to OP's liking.

To repeat. The child must either travel as a UM, and pay the UM fee, or in the same cabin as the responsible adult (OP).

The priority here for DL is on the child's safety and security not the parent's creature comforts (such as domestic F may be). Hopefully, the parent has the child's interests at heart. If this means flying in steerage, so be it.

I think it is obvious that the OP has his/her child's best interest at heart. Why even question this?

Did this taking my son to camp a month ago. Gate agent ended up upgrading my son so we both sat in 1st. If it was not going to happen, I would have swapped seats.