You've got the wrong 'MSN' flyertalker, actually.

very nice find ^ Does anyone know if the non-Elite companion will keep the premium seat next to you once you self-split the PNR? My wife and I are doing BOS-MSP-HNL over Thanksgiving and I chose the combined PNR to make sure we get 10 A/B for MSP-HNL knowing that EUA won't pick me up for BOS-MSP and I would have to rely on the battlefield ... any experience with premium seats after a PNR is split that way?????

It's actually simpler than that. It's a lack of self confidence.

An agent many not know how to do something, and instead of admitting that and finding out, many will just make up an answer to get you off the phone. They may think that they'll look better by not admitting they don't know something (when in reality, we'd rather they just find out). Or they might be too ashamed to ask their supervisor for something, thinking they should know it already, so they make up an answer.

This is not true of just airline agents, but any agent, any cashier, any customer service person, anywhere. Think along the lines of a $7 an hour person in any front line position with inadequate training, anywhere.

Factor in that these people are often rated not by the quality of service they provide, but by the number of customers they handle. If your call would require a hold for a supervisor to research an answer, they could be better off telling you it can't be done, and having you buy it, since they get credit for processing another call.

People get BS'ed many times a day. It's a matter of managing that BS. Either hang up and call back, or escalate and make an example of them if you have time to do so.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=454522

The non-Elite companion seat can get reassigned if you split the PNR after the upgrade processes. (sorry) These seats are for Elite members and qualified companions within the PNR. If you split the PNR, you give up that benefit for your companion.

NW scoop

!!!Warning, NWScoop do not read this!!!!

I've had very good luck in splitting PNR's and everyone keeping their seats but you have to call to have this happen because it takes a willing agent. The agent will break the PNR and then simply reassigns the previous seats back to those in your party. I'm not aware if they link the PNR's or not but the PE with companion upgrades have worked using the strategy. We are a family of 5 that splits it to 2 and 3.

Needless to say there is considerable risk associated with this if you have schedule changes. So only split the record 6 or 7 days away and pray the equipment doesn't change on any of the segments to force reseating.

Too late! I edited my post and added emphasis to a key word.

NW scoop

Where is the "Don't Show NW Scoop Button" when you need it?

Some of expect of our FT brethren competence (and respect) when dealing with other FT'ers.

You also failed to correct the misquoted/mischaracterized segment of the original poster's question, as he pointed out, which is what he was hoping to have answered.

Right next to the

ok, so I guess the online version of split my PNR will lead to a loss of the P-seat for my wife ... well, I might try the 'nice agent' suggestion ....

Can it work the other way? Combining two reservations?
I frequently book a flight through my company travel agent and then book my wife on the same flight. It would be nice to have sit next to me in a P seat. OTOH I would lose my chance of UG.

Creation of more than one record is a thermodynamically irreversible process. Entropy has increased, there is no way to reverse it short of cancelling the reservation, recreating and repricing it. Have your company book your wife along with you. Re-imburse your company's travel agent. If your company's travel agent needs to have a travel authorisation to book any travel, then it might not be possible. The other problem is your company's TA might not find as a cheap a fare for your wife as you would. On one of my trips to London, my company's travel agent booked me in a combination of B and C (AMS-LHR) for about $2400 and I booked my wife and two children on my own in Q for about $400 per person.

I am an elite agent for NW, i found this topic interesting as i see there are differences in opinions. I just wanted to say thank you to our loyal Platinum and Gold and Silver members that make our airline what it is today, successful. Now please keep in mind we are human too and we do deal with thousands of calls a day, not every call will go smooth and for that again we are only human. If you find that you are not getting the service you need, being Platinum, Gold, or Silver you have the advantage of ending the call and calling right back, you dont have much of a hold time. Perhaps that person just had a terrible call where an elite member was reading them the riot act because he/she was unable to offline them on a different carrier due to the fact that the weather was the delay. Or, because their miles had not yet posted to their account for a trip they took yesterday. In any case, we are all about service and great service is what we give, but we are human as well. I love my job on the elite line and will never go back to the domestic line. I enjoy the people and 99% of our elites are outstanding, courteous, and patient people. Just remember, you will catch more flies with sugar than vinegar, we are there to help you, you are our job security. And a thank you to all the Elites that donated the cake, prizes and materials for the big thank you party! You guys and gals are the best! Talk to you soon! Sue G

Some people deserve punch and others deserve pie!