We often take red eye flights out of Denver. It feels disappointing when when both have Pre and the station is closed. But… it usually means lines not too bad since so late.
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The boyfriend should have waited.
The tougher question is what if one of them got upgraded and the other didn’t.
It happened to my then husband early in in marriage. He used to travel a lot and had status with airlines. When he got upgraded he took the seat and left me behind. It was not a pleasant trip after the incident.
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If she wants/needs an earlier appointment, just keep checking back via the website and something might open up as people cancel and reschedule. When I renewed this summer the earliest appointment was 3 months out. I rescheduled it about 4 times, each time getting closer until I finally got one for the following week.
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Lol my sister’s ex husband used to get upgraded all of the time, he always left her in coach with their 3 young children.
My husband also got upgraded a lot when he was a business traveller. When he did…he always gave me the first class seat. The airlines let him board early too as he had the status…and he just chose a nice exit row with lots of legroom.
That worked!
Will airlines now still allow this swapping of the upgrade?
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Many insensitive men.
Anyway, my cousin flies a lot, as her SIL is a pilot and she has $. I offered her the TSA as a BD gift (much less than I usually spend), and she refused. I waited 20 minutes for her outside her door.
I don’t get it. She flies 10x more than I do. What is wrong with some convenience?
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My dad always let my mom take his seat when he was upgraded. 
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My husband always gives me the upgrade (I don’t travel that much) and we just tell them at the desk that I am going to take the seat and they give us the right boarding passes.
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I believe AmEx does too.
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It’s fine to go through precheck when your companion doesn’t have it, but offer to take at least one of their bags/carry-on things. If a couple can’t be separated for that amount of time, that’s a bigger problem! Offering to buy coffee on the other side would be lovely. People who have precheck usually travel a lot, so give your companion their perk! On the other hand, people who get upgrades tend to get upgraded a lot so they should let their less traveled companion have the upgrade.
Just my opinion, but having read through this thread, I think this is the correct take!!
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I once went through the regular line when I had pre-check, because I wanted to be with my H, who didn’t have it. The TSA agent told me I should not do that - she said anyone with pre-check should go through the pre-check line. I have no intention of getting chastised for that again (in the very far-off future, when I fly again).
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When my now-husband and I were in college, we flew across the Atlantic on the airline his father flew for. H flew free and had a good chance of a first class upgrade. I, meanwhile, was paying with a small prize I’d won, or else I wouldn’t be going anywhere. He stayed with me.
And we’re still together.
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We fly Alaska. Both pax on the same itinerary get upgraded even if only one has chichi status. Saves the airline some minor headaches of having unhappy pax on board.
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You must have to be more than a lowly MVP, because when I put my husband and me on the same itinerary I lose my chance to get an upgrade! Which is usually fine. Although since he’s a window guy and I prefer the aisle we rarely sit next to each other anymore.
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I’m in the wait on the other side camp. H had an issue with United on not getting pre-check. He has Global Entry, but his name got askew with United. Options were to talk to an agent or just go through the regular line. Got it done both ways.
We always put in for a FF upgrade, but never got it until a recent trip to my family reunion that H largely coordinated and paid for. I called it a karma upgrade.
Another vote for BF going pre check and waiting. Pre-covid, DH traveled weekly. I rarely went with him, but when I did I always had him go through pre check with the bags and electronics. I often use assistive devices and find it quicker and less stressful to have him just go through with all of the “crap” and be there to greet me with a Starbucks on the other side.
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W and I recently flew to SF. I asked her if she’d like to take my spot in first class if I requested and received an upgrade, and she no she wanted to sit together.
So we sit down together in coach (at least I got us the premium coach seats) when the flight attendant comes along and tells a passenger behind us that her upgrade to first class cleared. W looks at me and asks if she can still get that upgrade. I had to tell her that ship sailed 24 hours earlier when I didn’t put my name on the upgrade list.
Moral of the story - if your travel companion offers you the upgrade, take it!
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I once had the opportunity to travel to Japan with husband on business trip. By a stroke of luck, I got upgraded to business class. I decided the fair thing to do was to swap for his economy seat since he was actually needing to be rested for work AND he is much taller and larger than me. (Unfortunately he had the ambien tablets … was so happy to see him sneak back behind the curtain to give me me dose.). I was reward with good karma when the middle seat on my economy row did not get filled.
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@oldfort, DH does not like to fly, he is a bit claustrophobic. On a trip to Europe I bought myself the last cheap seat and since his fare was higher anyway, I went ahead and upgraded him to the mid-range seats, more room with a middle seat blocked off. He then got upgraded, somehow, to first class on the flight there, lounges, seats, all of it.
I have to tell you, I was kinda grateful not to listen to him stress, he got to enjoy first class and I got to enjoy my audiobook without having to hear him natter about the travel issues the whole way. It worked for me. He did spend the entire trip hoping he would be upgraded again.
I am also the TSA precheck person who leaves his butt in the slow line, I did the work to get the ability to not unpack my latop and toiletries, he can suffer until wiling, and eventually he did do the TSA.
But then, we are married decades so it’s not anything about impressing anyone 
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It is a service to help take some of the stuff for your partner in the long line and schlep it with you through the Global entry line and be waiting on the other side with refreshments that they’ll appreciate for the flight. Having both folks go in the slow, long line just makes it longer and slower. Would definitely talk about this before getting to tsa so you can agree on which stuff you will take thru tsa to relieve stress on partner.
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