The whole waitlist upgrade priority process has been changing over the past year. The issue is if only a single seat is released for upgrading then does a two passenger PNR get skipped. Many believe it does. Many beleive it is best to split PNRs but you will lose the priority protection of the elite for irrops, .... so it is a trade-off
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...d-threads.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ad-merged.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...r-upgrade.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...-waitlist.html
Once the flight goes to DM (roughly 4 hours prior to flight) upgrades are handled individually

WL with SWU to fly SFO-SYD July 22 and return Aug 3. Looks like lots of space in C....but reading these posts it seems we can improve our chances to upgrade earlier by splitting our PNR? I would hate to wait till the last minute, and be biting our nails at the gate

I don't know if this belongs here, but here it goes. My family of four (2p and 3 GM) will be traveling to NY and back. On our flight back, we will be going IAD-SFO (UA 285) two weeks from now. I spoke with a colleague who has 2 SWU's expiring in July that he wasn't planning on using. He was kind enough to offer them to us.

Am I crazy for thinking the following? I would split the PNR, then apply the SWU to my wife and one of the kids, then take a chance on a UDU for me and the other child. Y looks very full, but F shows 9. It's not a big deal to split us up, but one parent would obviously be with a child.

thanks in advance

As a 2P on IAD-SFO on UDU the odds are low but at least possible on a 752. two GMs on SWUs only hope will be to clear in advance of the flight but depending on the flight (day, time) that could happen but is not a certainty.

A full Y in Mid June (on a weekend??) could mean a lot of elites in Y with family/spouse, so there may be a deep upgrade waitlist.

Seems like an approach that could have some success but you could be skunked.

Hopefully the rainy season will have ended in Northern Calif in two weeks (some rain today -- but "it never rains after May 1" or at least it usually does not) and you have a great trip out here.

That makes a lot of sense. I guess I was too hopeful. Because Y is so full, I'm now thinking, "VDB for the entire family?" Before I started reading Flyertalk, I would have dreaded it, now I look at it as an opportunity. Maybe we could check out the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum

Actually, I live a few miles north of you. We're going to my wife's college reunion in western MA, and this would be the return leg. I'm hoping to see some sunshine after 8 months of rain here on the Oregon coast.

Hi all,

1P (me) traveling with my 1P wife and our GM baby; itin is on 1 PNR. No real reason for having the 3 of us on 1 PNR although I figured that if there was a CXL or other problem, the 3 of us together would be protected together.

I failed to realize that maintaining our 3*E+ seats would be almost impossible anytime there was a schedule change or any other reason to cause our 3 seats to move from E+ to E-. Plus of course it's impossible to change or book ourselves into E+ on .BOMB. 3 of our upcoming trips have already had this nightmare, which forces me to phone 1Pservice to hopefully get us back into E+. Now on one trip we're stuck in row 14 on 752 (which doesn't recline).

Is it possible to split the 1 PNR into 2 separate PNRs so that if there's another schedule change, we will not lose our seating? And how would I do it? Is there a fee?

Thank you,
Michael

Yes, you can. Just call. It's free.

Thank you - did it with one and realized yet another question about this before I do my August flight. For our August SFO/ORD flight, we are flying NC (supported with my 45000 miles) on the ORD>SFO 747 flight. Is it a problem if I split *this* PNR, in terms of my wife losing her NC seat or my needing to fill out separate paperwork, etc etc etc?

Thanks again,
Michael

I'm curious as to what my fellow FTers would do with this scenario:

Mrs and I are tktd DTW-ORD-AMS-ORD-AMS in Oct. Both ORD-AMS are confirmed in C with SWU. Both DTW-ORD are waitlisted. It's an RJ both ways, currently showing NF1 both ways. The Mrs is GM; I'm iK.

I see two options:

1. Split the PNR and upgrade the Mrs. now on the DTW-ORD. Easier to get one seat now and one later, rather than wait for two later. With my 1K status, I would likely clear, but if not, it's <1hr flight. Downside here is in the event of IRROPS the Mrs is on her own as a GM.

2. Wait for 2 seats to open later and thus protect the Mrs. in the event of IRROPS. She'd be on the same PNR as me, and thus get better service if the system malfunctions. The DTW-ORD in Y is not that bad if we don't clear, but still, F is always nicer.

What would you do? Anything I've missed?

I never consider IRROPS when making these types of decisions. I would always go for the guaranteed upgrade and take my chances with the other one.

Split them.

What about AMS-ORD on the way back? Has that cleared? If not, I'd probably split.

I wouldn't spend a lot of time worrying about a 45m flight on a RJ. Besides, you'll probably end up with UDU and you'll both likely clear at (or pretty close) to the window..

IMHO, its too short of a flight to complicate splitting the PNR's.

You have C for the important parts. for the DTW portions, just let the upgrade chips fall where they may.

+1.

I would not care about an upgrade for DTW-ORD.

Depends on how you feel about splitting up during the flight. My wife and I have found it frustrating in the past when only I upgrade and her ticket remains in coach. However, there is something to be said for the facial expression I get when trading an F ticket for coach so I can sit next to my wife.

We'd typically rather upgrade together or not at all. Split PNRs make this such a common hassle.