OrlandoFlyer

About a month ago, myself and my partner were on the same PNR and were on the upgrade list from C+ to F on a four segment itinerary. My partner was availing herself of my Platinum status to get the same benefits as I get. I was upgraded on the first segment and she was not but kept her C+ upgrade. On the second segment we were both upgraded from C+ to F. So my upgrade on the first segment did not cause our PNR to be split as we were still both in the PNR after the first segment and for the rest of the trip.

Fast forward two weeks, and the same thing happened on the first segment of another four segment itinerary only this time my partner did get downgraded from C+ to Y for the remaining three segments as the reservation was split by the gate agent who upgraded me on the first segment. I managed to get my partner back into C+ in her original seats for the rest of the trip with a phone call to reservations. Later I also managed to get our separate split PNRs combined back into one new PNR by a very helpful reservations agent, so that my partner got my benefits back on the last two return segments of the trip. We were then upgraded together to F for the last segment of the trip.

I must admit that I was unaware of the spliting of a PNR when only one person is upgraded in a two person PNR. Also, I have never found anywhere on DL.com that it details that. Anyway I just wanted to advise on my two recent different experiences on this subject. .

MSPeconomist

xliioper

Did you check-in separately or together? If checking in together, you should either both get upgraded or neither and your partner shares your upgrade priority. Checking in separately shouldn't cause your PNR to split (and it sounds like it didn't on the first itin). Could have been something else caused the split on the second itin.
I frequently travel with a family member and make sure to check us in together. We've always been upgraded together at the same time (if there are two seats open) and haven't had any issues with PNR splitting. There was one case I can think of when there was only one seat open in FC and the agent called me up and asked if I wanted to be upgraded separately.

Mr. Tickets

Airport GA's have a little leeway on some of these things. They can upgrade one person in a PNR (on the segment they are in control of) and not the other, and leave the original PNR intact. Some GA's know how to do that and some don't. You definitely cannot "rejoin" two split PNR's, so someone had to create a new PNR and
attach the original tickets to it (or reissue them). You should be able to tell by the PNR locator number, it would be completely different than either of
the other locators.

NobleHouse

I'm fairly sure it works as designed - allow me to use an anecdotal story as proof

When Delta first introduce C+ a few years ago as a separate class & upgrade, I didn't have the box checked requesting C+ upgrades and only had the F upgrade box checked. For a while I was puzzled why I wasn't getting any upgrades to C+. Called the DM desk and they told me I had to have the corresponding upgrade checked (C+ and/or F) to be eligible for the upgrade in question. Once I had done that, C+ started happening again.

Seems to me that if you choose for certain passengers on your PNR to not upgrade to a particular cabin, it shouldn't process. Naturally YMMV

Mr. Tickets

I don't think it works that way, if I understand what you are saying. If there are more than two people in a PNR, no upgrades will go through, no matter what
check boxes you check. The PNR cannot work the upgrades with more than two people and it won't split the PNR without human intervention.

Billy Mumphrey

Yeah, it was a nice idea but I checked and it's all-or-nothing. With 2 passengers on a PNR, either both passengers request an upgrade or neither passenger does. There is no way to request an upgrade for just 1 of the 2 passengers.

RaflW

This is very interesting to me. A couple days ago, flying with my partner (who I'd gifted Silver) on one PNR, at the gate we were 'on the bubble' at 5 & 6 for 5 seats in F. We discussed splitting, but I wanted us on the same PNR for the return, and we already had good C+ seats as I'm Plat.

When my BP was scanned at the jetway, I got moved to 5D. My partner stayed in C+. I didn't think that would happen, but he had checked in on his phone after I had. Would that count as a separate check in? We weren't seated together in C+ (random middle person between), so I had speculated that the GA had interpreted that as "OK to split for F upgrade", but I also didn't know how the UG processed since our PNR remained connected for the return. It's not exactly as described above in the DL info, but close... huh.

ijgordon

If the ticket isn't reissued, which it isn't for elite upgrades, then I don't think the PNR needs to be split. But there's no way to request upgrades for more than one companion, so the only way to do this in advance is to split the PNR so you have one elite + one companion -- then you can request the ugprades.

I think DL can do something stronger than a cross-reference, I believe I heard an agent refer to it as "endorsement" (or some form of the word), when I had my seat plus an extra seat (EXST) booked separately. Obviously it would be key for them not to separate the two bookings (let alone the seat assignments) in the case of IRROPs. But it's possible they only use this method for, say, minors and EXSTs.
And FWIW, I couldn't do OLCI for either myself or the EXST because of the endorsement. I don't even think the kiosk worked.

xliioper

You can't do it prior to check-in, but it seems to pretty clear that if you check-in separately it will potentially upgrade one pax and not the other if there is only one seat. The question is whether the companion still shares your upgrade priority if checking in separately.

RaflW

Not sure if this is germane, but in the case I just mentioned upthread, my partner who wasn't upgraded to F remained #6 on the UG list (for 5 seats). As FO he'd have been waaaaay down the priority list on his own.

Mr. Tickets

I think the word you are looking for is "inhibitor". It limits things like passengers traveling with pets in cabin or unaccompanied minors from checking in online. They must see a GA. It is also what they do it you want to refuse an upgrade for various reasons.

ijgordon

Could be. I wonder if it also inhibits a reservation from being auto-rebooked in IRROPS, so that someone can manually ensure the two records remain together.
Of course this argues that it may not be something one can voluntarily request if a record gets divided for some reason.