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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here with a final outcome!! Had a long talk with my parents.

First, when they bought their tickets, they knew we we were in business class and also figured we got a great deal like we always seem to do. They knowingly booked coach because: (1) they couldn’t afford business class and (2) they assumed that DH could just upgrade them for free because he has elite status. Truthfully, DH has previously hooked them up with first class tix to Hawaii, London, and Seattle, but they have/had no clue how challenging this can be and that there are no guarantees. They wrongly assumed it would be easy and that we’re overflowing with FF miles, so they didn’t see it as a burden.

Second, my dad – especially – doesn’t like to be outdone. He highly respects DH, but is always competing with him. When he saw that we had booked a Sky Suite + Veranda Room combo on Celebrity, he decided to take it up a notch and book a better Celebrity Suite for him and my mom. He really wants his cabin on the cruise ship to be the family gathering location. I am sure that sitting in coach while my family sits in business just rubbed him the wrong way. But he’s stuck with minimal recourse, not having a spare $10K+ to essentially maintain pace with DH.

Third, I am not comfortable having my parents sitting in coach while my kids are in business class. It would embarrass me to no end. Quite frankly, both of my kids felt it was wrong as well (DD absolutely wants business, but appreciates the rightness of offering it up to a 74 year old grandparent; DS offered it up w/o hesitation). It’s annoying that my dad tried to guilt his way into better seats at our expense, but…it is his way. He can be a competitive and controlling jerk, but I think he wants to do the right thing. I don’t have to love the behavior to still love and respect the person.

So, we’ve decided to give up two of our first class seats to my parents. We have a nice cluster of 4 in the middle of a 787 in both directions. DH was able to call the GS help desk at United and have my parents’ itinerary connected to ours. United upgraded my parents’ seats from Economy to Economy Plus at no cost since we’re basically all flying together and GS members are eligible for this. Then, DH has applied PlusPoints to my parents’ seats. It is waitlist-only, but United assures us that the upgrades will be prioritized as Global Services, so maybe we’ll get lucky. As the flight draws nearer, if the price for a paid upgrade drops, DH might go ahead and purchase upgrades to either Premium Plus or to Polaris Business. Regardless, my parents will be sitting in business. United assures me that an on-board switch of seats will not be a problem for family members (assuming no back and forth).

My parents didn’t really appreciate the complexities of FF miles and upgrades. But they highly value the upgrade from coach to business. My parents have offered to give each of our kids $500 spending money for the cruise plus to pay for all excursions for all six of us (beyond our on-board credits, anyway). DH is still covering the three hotel rooms for several days pre- / post-cruise. 
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That’s wonderful. It sounds like you all are going to have a wonderful time. And I think your kids are lovely. [/quote]

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