So I just got off the phone with UA reservations and was told that the only way I could use two upgrade methods on passengers on a single PNR was to split the record. Is this correct? I went ahead and split the record, but only because the agent had already backed out both upgrades (my goal was to change from to SWUs to 1 SWU and 1CR-1).

The agent also said that I could only request upgrades for all passengers on the PNR, not just one passenger.

That sounds correct from my experiences.

Yes, that is correct on both counts.

Yes.

You can pull instruments out of different accounts on the same flight (e.g., upgrade us with our respective CR1s), but each flight or direciton must use the same type of instrument.

In your case, the the agent was correct; but this is not necessarily the case all the time. For instance 2 can be on the same PNR and one upgrade using 500 mile certs and the other a SystemWide Your Confirmed made it impossible.

I've had a number of experiences of this over the past year and every time it is an issue.

First off, splitting the record messes up a bunch of things. Like I got forced overbooked on a new routing when my W to E coast flights got delayed. My young son's did not as he was on a different locator and had no status to get such nice treatment - I was low on 500s so I had put him on a regional upgrade. In the end the gate agent did something she should not have done for sure as that alternative flight was way way overbooked. (It did illustrate the advantage of being a 1K and being nice to gate agents when everyone else is shouting at them). Then there are other things like the other person has no status so with any upgrades you get upgraded and they have no hope. And if you are both standing by for upgrades on a subsequent flight then you stand a good chance and they are hosed. It kind of goes on and on - and the worst thing is not failure to get first - it is getting stuck somewhere with no status if flights go haywire. I cannot recall the number of times when I have got on the last flight out of somewhere in bad weather leaving tons of people at the gate - my travel partner would be stuck if we were on different locators - and that does not work with a kid.

You can use any combination you like at the gate or at check-in of course - provided the agent knows what they are doing. But that assumes that first is pretty much wide open still.

They won't fix this for sure - it is too esoteric.

There are downsides to splitting the record as UAAAPeter notes, but all other things being =, splitting the record can get UGs when UA doles out the seats a little at a time in advance. There are absolutely pluses to separate records, particularly in seeking out UGs in advance. The OP may reap a benefit from the split....

Not that you want to wait until you check in online to get in the upgrade queue, but I have been able to use different instruments for each person from my account when checking in, by checking in each person in individually.

Nope. No benefits as there was confirmable space avaialble and both of us are cleared into F.

The whole point of this exercise was to get a SWU back to [try to] use on a LH fligth in September (I have SWUs that expire in Sept from hitting 1MM). I wanted to make sure to confirm the flights in F and not use e500s at the gate (initally using expiring confirmed upgrade instruments)

I find it simply annoying and another example of UA IT issues.

What really bothers me is that if you are travelling with a non-status pax; after they split the PNR, the other pax is no longer entitled to the free checked bagage. I'm sure its an IT problem why we cant do certain things, but they really do have to fix it.

The answer lies in what you are using to upgrade each person. There are very few agents that know how to "get around" that problem and it's only possible in a few instances.

The second part is true. It's all or none. Keep in mind, when you split the record the other passenger does NOT get upgraded based on your status.

Yes.

But the 2006 IT upgrade made these specialties really, really tricky. Even changing the instrument on a single pax PNR is a challenge these days, whereas before I could easily mix miles and certs and swap them.

I read this thread further and reread Opening Post and I believe I origionally misread it. If you upgraded using SWUs and are not checked in, at checkin an agent should be able to change one to a Confirmed. The system will default to SWUs but passengers come up individually and there is a way to change one.