Surprise trip! ...or not.
 

At 1st glance, this seems as though it should be obvious, but perhaps not:

I've just found out what I'm getting for my birthday. This is due to my GF using my FF # when booking the reservations. Suddenly, I have a new trip listed in my upcoming itineraries. Since I wasn't supposed to know yet, it has taken some of the surprise away.

However, since she has no status, how could she get us on the upgrade list without tipping her hand?

Mod's, if this has been covered, please merge with/point me to the existing thread(s).

Name of the airline might help get an answer.

Apologies; In this case DL. However, I'm interested in "across-the-board" answers, as well as for this specific case.

Surprise trip! ...or not.
 

Is it an international trip or domestic ? What is your status ?
There is no such thing as across the board , each airline is different .

Surprise trip! ...or not.
 

Delta allows you to upgrade one companion as long as you have one person with status. In this case, it's not possible to process the upgrade without a valid Skymiles number.

Why don't you just put the res on the upgrade list yourself? If she asks, just tell her it happens automatically if you FF# is attached to the res.

A surprise trip is no fun. If the destination is a surprise, this is less bad and maybe fun. Part of the trip is the anticipation and planning.

Also make sure you have a will and a trusted friend. 99.999% of the time your hunch is correct. There is a 0.0001% chance that your girlfriend is planning to kill you and her boyfriend is using your ff miles to escape and do throwaway ticketing. Be very wary if the trip to Brazil or Yemen.

Maybe report to us when you arrive a that we know you are alive!

:D

Nice of her to redeem your points without you knowing.. just kidding.;)

Regarding Doc Savage's suggestion, this would be a good idea. She probably won't even know about the upgrade list feature appearing on the itinerary. It would be a nice surprise for your GF to get upgraded 'unknowingly.'

Dark and cynical much? :D

Thanks. I've already confirmed we're on the UG list.

It appears I was not clear with my query. What I'm looking for is a way to book someone for a flight; include another's FF info for appropriate benefits, and do this without them becoming aware.

This morning, she told me to keep my entire b'day weekend open, and I played along. I still haven't told her I know, and I'm not sure I will (that's TBD). I just feel as though some of the fun has been taken away because I know what she's planned, and I'm wondering if there's a way to avoid this for her, and for others. ...call it a teaching moment, if you will.

You're a seasoned specialist and know the ins and out of your industry. A complete surprise reaction would show appreciation to your GF if you choose this route.

The again, integrity and truthfulness should be communicated always.

I don't like your dilemma.:D

There's no dilemma. Play dumb and act surprised. Gift-giving cuts both ways. The gf is going to enormous trouble to engineer the "surprise." Give her the gift of appreciation.

"Integrity and truthfulness" don't enter into the gift-giving zone. Do you open her Christmas present to you and tell her, truthfully, you hate it? For that matter do you confirm those jeans make her look fat? Be smart, not relentlessly truthful.

Yeah, I would engineer the "surprise" as well and give her the gift of appreciation.;)

Funny, I used to let my wife know of travel plans, and she was saying I lacked the element of surprise. Then I surprised her with a few trips, the last one to Disney Aulani on Oahu, and the Gold Floor one bedroom lakeview suite at Chateau Lake Louise, and another weekend with the Calgary Philharmonic at CLL with all meals accounted. She was completely surprised as I made a whole story up leading to the unfolding. When we visited the NY Plaza, I surprised the entire family by presenting a set of 4 London 2012 Olympic Closing Ceremony tickets. That event was the highlight of our lives up to this point.

It'll be interesting following this thread as the story unfolds.

To actually respond, I don't think there is a way.

She could have booked the tickets and then not added your number until the very last minute?

Depends on the route/flight of course, but seems to me that with a no-status companion you're pretty unlikely to get an upgrade anyway so if she had known better, she could have skipped it all together.

Anyway, sounds fun to me. I'd just lean back and enjoy it...

-R