Link two bookings for upgrades?
 

I booked a flight BNA-ATL-SJO that I paid for with $. Also booked my wife on the same flights with miles. I'm a GM soon to be PM. I've already called Delta to link the two confirmations together, but I still only see one traveler on the flight info. I also can't select my wife's seats. Is this possible? Also, will she be eligible for my upgrades?

You can only link a companion on a separate reservation for upgrades if they are on a revenue flight. If you were both on the same award reservation, then you would be both be eligible for upgrades at your status level. But that is not the case here. There is no way to merge separately booked reservations, whether award or revenue, onto a single reservation. Nor can you combine a revenue and award reservation together at time of booking. It's just how airline reservation systems work. Itin's must be exactly the same, exactly same fare class, etc. in order to be booked together on a single reservation.

Any upgrades related to your status (including C+ and F) can only be processed on day of departure if on separate PNRs (award vs. cash booking is irrelevant in this case since separate PNRs -- even if she was on a cash ticket, the fact that it's a different PNR would mean DoD upgrades only).

Advise getting to the airport on the earlier side in hopes that a nice GA / DL SkyClub / check-in agent processes the request assuming there is still space (if C+/F has already cleared full, nothing you'll be able to do other than give your wife any C+/F upgrades you received and sit back in coach).

Note that "linking" reservations is nothing more than a note being added to both of your reservations. The primary purpose of this is so that agents can see the connection if there is a flight cancellation or delay and you need to be rebooked. *Hopefully* they will know to keep you together. Other than this, linking really serves no purpose.

If you want to change her seats or do anything else online, you will need to enter her reservation, either through her Sky Miles account online, or by entering her confirmation number and last name. You will not ever see both of you in the same online reservation, because the link is behind the scenes.

Regarding the companion upgrade, note that this is a different process from linking. You must call Delta and specifically ask for her to be listed as your companion for upgrades. Do not use the word "link" as it may confuse the agent. Ask them to confirm that your wife is listed as your companion for upgrades. Note that these type of companion upgrades, as mentioned above, are the lowest priority and usually don't clear. If they do clear, it will almost certainly be at the airport unless you are on a very empty flight.

I realize the DL T&C's are murky here, but there have been a number of reports here that non-status companions on award tickets on a separate reservation aren't upgrade eligible. The only time a non-status member is eligible for companion upgrades on an award ticket is when they are on the same award reservation as the status member. The system simply won't process a linked non-status companion on an award ticket. This isn't really a big loss for FC upgrades since non-status linked companions will probably rarely get upgraded to FC anyway due to being at the bottom of the upgrade list. You might be able to get a GA to move the companion to C+ if there are open seats after the upgrade lists have been cleared

I've seen these reports. I'm curious if the issue is needing to add the companions SM # to their reservation. Which wouldn't normally be thought about as it's an award with no earnings. One is required when on a paid ticket. Would make sense same on an award.

Wouldn't a Sky Miles number automatically be on the award ticket if the miles were from the account of the person flying?

In my experience, non-medallions on award tickets cannot be added to the upgrade list even with their Skymiles number on their reservation.

I was thinking more along line of elite books an award for companion, but separately.

Upgrading w/companions, eligibility, timing, Sep 2020 onward (consolidated)
 

Just saw on the Points Guy (and other sources), Delta is changing its policy for companion upgrades on separate tickets to now mirror the policy as if the two passengers were on the same PNR.

The Points Guy:

Effective immediately, Delta is improving the companion upgrade policy for those booked on separate reservations that have been linked.

Going forward, if a Medallion and non-status companion are booked on separate reservations, the non-status companion will clear domestic Delta One and first-class upgrades beginning at the Medallion member’s upgrade window. Delta confirmed the recent change that’s aimed to enhance the upgrade experience with TPG.

That means that a Diamond member and the member’s non-status companion will both be eligible for bumps to Delta One and first beginning 120 hours before departure. This is a massive improvement compared to the old policy since the non-status companion would have only become eligible the day before departure.

However, if a Diamond and Silver are traveling together on separate reservations that have been linked, the Diamond will clear at the Diamond window and the Silver will clear at the Silver window.

The companion upgrade policy for Comfort+ remains unchanged as part of today’s news.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/delta-...nion-upgrades/

The last part is quite interesting - if a higher priority traveler is traveling with a lower status passenger on separate tickets, the lower status passenger upgrades on their own window, even if linked, while if you have no status, you upgrade at the window of your companion's status window. That seems, odd to say the least - that it's better to travel with someone without status than someone with status, in some respects, if actually correct.

I guess if you are a lower level elite and are traveling with a DM (or PM) you just don't put your SM number in the record and instead apply for credit later.

Agent told me today that for FC there is no difference if companion is on a separate or the same PNR. However, for Comfort+, companion is treated separately on his/her own if on a different PNR. YMMV.

IIRC eligibility for companion upgrades requires a SkyMiles number.

I wonder whether TPG misunderstood something.

Alternatively, the words are "clear at the elite's window" not "clear with the elite's priority." Maybe companions of DMs will rank below all other DMs on the upgrade list, but still have the rare possibility to clear at the time of the DM window.

This new policy is terrible for almost everyone except the non-status passenger. It will result in upgrades being doled out to random colleagues or infrequent travelers associated with whomever is at the top of the upgrade list, while even many Diamonds will be passed over. If someone is a bona fide companion, they should be able to be booked on the same reservation - it was a reasonable requirement to share the same upgrade priority, IMHO.

The truly bizarre aspect is that the higher status only applies if the other passenger is non-status. It literally means that if you can't book on the same reservation, you're worse off gifting your spouse Gold status than you would be leaving them with no status.

I have no idea what they were thinking on this one, and I hope they reconsider. This is a change with significant downsides for almost every frequent traveler that very few people were asking for. In fact, I can't actually figure out the business justification for offering this, unless it's to expose more people to the Delta first class product in an attempt to convince them to pay for it on future trips?

Huge misfire from Delta.