thanks, this was exactly what I was looking for. I need to take that in to account when I select seats so that I would not leave us sat apart if one pair clears. Right now I have:

mini, mini, mrs ISLE tht

so maybe a:

mini, mrs
mini, mr

or mini, mrs, mini ISLE tht - 2 isle seats should be good enough to get a fair trade for an isle middle to sit together if we get an UG.

on the outbound the F seat map has 50% unassigned, on the retuen it’s already showing 0.

given all the variables the downside from the mrs if anything goes wrong is worse that the very remote chance even 2 will clear… and the older mini (7) already complained last time we flew that he did not have a flat bed like his 2nd flight to London… so a “coach reset” may be a good idea anyway.

The list ordering can sometimes be a mystery, but if you pair child with parent, you're likely to appear with you and and your spouse x, x+1, with minis x+2 and x+3 (probably you first if you booked tickets and have lowest ticket number). So I would align seats with that in mind (i.e., put first likely upgrader in "worse" seat.)

So depending on what you want to end up with, I would put yourself in middle, spouse either in window or far-side aisle and two kids in what's left. Then you will either end up losing a middle first, which is easy to take from any other of the seats, then with two aisles, or window/aisle and can trade as needed. Obviously with two upgrade your spouse will take a child up front.

Of course, as golds this is probably all academic - the open F seats will go to GS/1K with plus points applied on a refundable fare, if they aren't purchased first.

thanks. yes I guess assuming people will trade thats the best plan. I am now juts thinking ahead for future bookings not this flight. Not messing with it and yes based on past experience I would probably put the mrs upfront…

last time I failed to give the now mrs tht the only UG was a LAS- EWR… and I never lived it down… note I did “offer” the seat in F to her, but not directly, I asked if she planned to drink… when when said no, I took it as drinks were free up there… needless to say I was not in good standing when I ran warm cookies back to her and ironically my seat mate was also an UG and his wife was next to my now wife in the first row of E+ with an empty middle so they were not that badly off.

You're lucky they didn't plot together about how they'd both cut off all of your (warm) nuts after that!

PlusPoints Waitlist - To Split or Not To Split
 

I haven't seen this question or missed it in this long thread: Spouse and I are on a paid PlusPoints eligible ticket (single PNR) with PlusPoints requested (Polaris or PP option) round-trip MCI-EWR-ATH, MUC-IAD-MCI. On our last trip to STT, we split as I saw seats in PZ come and go even though #1 and 2; I then called when I saw 1 seat in PZ. So one confirmed and the other waitlisted. and were ultimately both upgraded, so that was great. I've been watching for PZ and RN and haven't seen anything. We are #4 and 5 for upgrade as we were last month. So do we split to get a seat confirmed as soon as it opens up (assuming it is 1 at a time)? Almost all my travel is domestic, so I am a PlusPoints neophyte internationally.

Concerns: Per UA 1K chat -
Agent: I can go ahead and work in dividing the reservation and put the other passenger on a different confirmation number. But as a reminder, once divided, I can no longer merge it in the future. In case the upgrade using PlusPoints was not confirmed, as a Premier 1K member, you will still be rolled over to the Complimentary Premier Upgrade. But your travel companion will no longer be eligible for Complimentary Premier Upgrade because the reservation is divided and she'll be on a different confirmation number.
Me: On our flight last week I got a notification at check in to split my reservation, did so, and my wife was still upgraded with me [FYI UAX YX].
Agent: During check in if there's only one available seat for upgrade, it will prompt you to confirm but the reservation will be split or not confirm and wait until your companion also gets upgraded. However if we divide the reservation prior to check in, the system will no longer detect it since the Complimentary Upgrade request shows up during 24 hours before flight departure.
- is the last agent's statement splitting correct that pre-checkin splits lose companion's CPU chances?

What are your thoughts and guidance if correct?
I haven't split for now given the above - given if we don't get upgraded by PlusPoints (which is looking more doubtful by the day), I suspect our best/only chance would be due to misconnects, so I think I need to keep that option, as it sounds like post check in splits keep companion on the CPU list. I would like at least one to upgrade (I would switch so Spouse is up front at least). There are currently 13P and 4 PP seats showing on the map, down from 21/8 last month. We're #1 and 2 on the return from MUC (772, ~25% more P/PP than 78X to ATH and many more open seats) so no worries there. Maybe ATH will upgauge to 772. Also I thought I read somewhere in Program enhancements, there was to be a double PlusPoints to confirm but that hasn't been offered, and I did not see it at upgrade request (unless I missed it).

I have an upcoming trip. Single PNR, 1K + one companion, return upgrade has already cleared. Outbound is ORD-ZRH on a K fare. I only have 80 plus points remaining though. I would like to apply the plus points for one pax and miles+cash for the other. It seems that splitting the PNR is the only way to do this.

I believe that splitting the PNR will not affect the already cleared J upgrade on the return, but will my companion receive my 1K status for priority with my PP on a split PNR? I've read anecdotally that if the request is applied before splitting the PNR the status will carry over, so should I apply MUA to both, split PNR, and then cancel my MUA and replace it with a PP waitlist?

A good (safe) strategy!

Your logic seems sound. Maybe try calling the 1k line to get a confirmation as to how it works. This seems like something they would know.

I can confirm this was the case with my award flight right until T-24. Then at check-in I moved way up as Plat, my Silver spouse stayed about where she was and the 2 children dropped off the list. But they shouldn't have been on the list anyways since they are no status and it is an award ticket. No splitting or option to split occurred. This was my first time traveling with the whole family since xmas 2019.

Any recent reports on this?

My experience is if you split PNR before check-in, each passenger will be on his/her own status. If PNR is split after check-in, when passengers are placed on upgrade standby list, then higher status applies to both passengers.

When it asks you during checkin, is that considered before or after? That's the only way I was aware of to split a reservation online.

After. Online check-on does not split your PNR. If you choose to split, system will only split PNR if at least one of the passengers clears upgrade later.

It's been a while since I've done OLCI on a PNR with more than one person. If I recall, there's specifically a question asking if you want to split the PNR (ie. preserve the upgrade or be removed). If I understand you correctly, if you choose the preserve the upgrade (ie. split), it does not actually do the split unless the upgrade clears? When/if that happens, the other pax (ie. no status) would retain the upgraded pax's status?

I just seem to remember one time in the past, doing this and it actually splitting, causing issues with the other pax trying to check a bag. I distinctly remember that no one got upgraded though. This was a while ago though, perhaps back in the auto-checkin era.