WWYD I: Group Airline Booking

[sam_gordon]

DW and I are taking the family on a cruise next year to celebrate younger DD's HS graduation. Older DD will be bringing her husband, DS will be bringing GF, younger DD will have a friend, so total of 8, all will be 18+. SiL is the only one who hasn't flown before.

So, first dilemma... booking airfare... I am traveling for work quite a bit, and will/should be 'Gold' status on Delta. My work trips (travelling by myself), I'm getting upgraded about 50-70% of the time (actually got two FC upgrades on my last trip). Delta's benefits include "Complimentary Upgrades for you and one travelling companion". So, if we book a single reservation for all 8, does that mean the odds of getting an upgrade drop? Should only be two flights each direction, one to ATL (about an hour in the air) and from ATL to Houston (about an hour?).

Or, do I book two reservations, one for DW and I, and a second for the other six, then have Delta "Link" the reservations in case there are changes? The downside of this, is since I also have their CC, I get one free checked luggage for every member of the party, provided they're on my reservation. The other benefit to splitting reservations is possible money savings, depending on how many seats are available and each price point.

So, would you book two reservations and have them linked (but give up the free luggage), or put everyone on the same reservations and decrease the chances of upgrading? Other ideas?

WWYD II will also relate to this trip, but since you can't do two polls in one thread, that will be here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/wwyd-ii.3928991/

 

[Lewisc]

Would you accept an upgrade for just 2 of you? Put as many as you can on one reservation. Free luggage might offset an increase in fare. Split the reservation if it will have a significant fare difference

 

[sam_gordon]

Would you accept an upgrade for just 2 of you? Put as many as you can on one reservation. Free luggage might offset an increase in fare. Split the reservation if it will have a significant fare difference

Hell yes I'd accept an upgrade for just two of us. If the rest were young, probably not, but they'll all be over 18

 

[AgentMama]

The flights aren't long enough for us to care about the upgrade, if you're checking bags, seems the better value is the free checked bags unless there is a significant fare difference for that many people on one reservation.

 

[EACarlson]

It depends, as a Gold Medallion you and your entire party should be able to select preferred seats for free. If you're checking more than three bags across all of you, I would go with the free baggage benefit rather than trying for the upgrade. Either way if you're going to split, book everyone together, select the premium seats, then call in and split the PR to separate you and your wife four days before the flight. Then you keep everyone together as long as possible and still make yourself available for the upgrade at T72.

 

[sam_gordon]

It depends, as a Gold Medallion you and your entire party should be able to select preferred seats for free. If you're checking more than three bags across all of you, I would go with the free baggage benefit rather than trying for the upgrade. Either way if you're going to split, book everyone together, select the premium seats, then call in and split the PR to separate you and your wife four days before the flight. Then you keep everyone together as long as possible and still make yourself available for the upgrade at T72.

Didn't know you could do that. hmmm... Pretty sure we'll have more than three bags with 8 people.

 

[_19disnA]

If you are paying for everyone traveling, I would do one reservation. If not, and there will be various individuals paying their own way, it would be far less hassle to have each of them manage their own reservation. For those shorter duration flights it is unlikely your have a large enough aircraft to seat all 8 of you in a single row. The typical single aisle aircraft has 3 seats on each side of the aisle for the majority of seats. First/Business class will tend to have larger seats which are usually 2 on each side of the aisle. So even if you managed all of the reservations, you won't be able to sit together. Even traveling to the airport for departure, I would assume you won't all fit in a single vehicle.

If someone changes their mind about traveling, having their own reservation makes things way less complicated. I would let the others know the date/time/flight # and let them all manage their own reservation.

 

[sam_gordon]

If you are paying for everyone traveling, I would do one reservation. If not, and there will be various individuals paying their own way, it would be far less hassle to have each of them manage their own reservation. For those shorter duration flights it is unlikely your have a large enough aircraft to seat all 8 of you in a single row. The typical single aisle aircraft has 3 seats on each side of the aisle for the majority of seats. First/Business class will tend to have larger seats which are usually 2 on each side of the aisle. So even if you managed all of the reservations, you won't be able to sit together. Even traveling to the airport for departure, I would assume you won't all fit in a single vehicle.

If someone changes their mind about traveling, having their own reservation makes things way less complicated. I would let the others know the date/time/flight # and let them all manage their own reservation.

Who said anything about desiring to sit in a single row? We have 8 people... planning on getting four sets of two seats together...
Myself & DW
oDD & DSiL
DS & GF
yDD & Friend

Now, if we can do two rows with four people on one side of the aisle and four on the other, that's probably what I'll plan.

I agree with you that if someone changes their minds about traveling, separate reservations is better. HOWEVER, if the airline changes flights, there is the chance of separate reservations being put on different "new" flights, and that wouldn't be good.

We would be paying for everyone, and those responsible (not DS or yDD) would pay us back.

 

[brockash]

DW and I are taking the family on a cruise next year to celebrate younger DD's HS graduation. Older DD will be bringing her husband, DS will be bringing GF, younger DD will have a friend, so total of 8, all will be 18+. SiL is the only one who hasn't flown before.

So, first dilemma... booking airfare... I am traveling for work quite a bit, and will/should be 'Gold' status on Delta. My work trips (travelling by myself), I'm getting upgraded about 50-70% of the time (actually got two FC upgrades on my last trip). Delta's benefits include "Complimentary Upgrades for you and one travelling companion". So, if we book a single reservation for all 8, does that mean the odds of getting an upgrade drop? Should only be two flights each direction, one to ATL (about an hour in the air) and from ATL to Houston (about an hour?).

Or, do I book two reservations, one for DW and I, and a second for the other six, then have Delta "Link" the reservations in case there are changes? The downside of this, is since I also have their CC, I get one free checked luggage for every member of the party, provided they're on my reservation. The other benefit to splitting reservations is possible money savings, depending on how many seats are available and each price point.

So, would you book two reservations and have them linked (but give up the free luggage), or put everyone on the same reservations and decrease the chances of upgrading? Other ideas?

WWYD II will also relate to this trip, but since you can't do two polls in one thread, that will be here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/wwyd-ii.3928991/

If you can get all tix for around the same price per tix as booking separately, I'd book all. Keeps everything together in case of disruptions and free luggage. To me the upgrade isn't a guarantee plus I'd feel a lil odd being upgraded while the rest of my party is sitting somewhere else.

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

I think it’s awesome that aren’t sure if you should split up for PC, but have no problem taking an upgrade and splitting up during the flights!

And I agree with the above - better to get all of the bags checked than hope for an upgrade on a short flight.