Nov 8, 2015, 12:01 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
For complimentary premier upgrades, United explains how they are handled for itineraries with more than one passenger:
If a reservation includes three or more travelers, and only one is not a Premier member, the Complimentary Premier Upgrades will be processed according to the lowest Premier status level in the reservation. If two or more travelers on the reservation are not Premier members, it will not be processed automatically. In these cases, Premier members should call the Premier Priority Desk to request a separate reservation for themselves and the eligible companion.
https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly.../upgrades.html
For elites, an itinerary for multiple passengers will remain together until ~T-24. If the upgrades clear before then, the PNR remains together. If they have not cleared by then, the PNR will be "split" when you check in for purposes of upgrades, with waitlist priority in accordance with above. The splitting has consequences regarding eligibility for "inherited status" - i.e., baggage allowances, upgrade priority, boarding priority for passengers with lower status than the highest status passenger. I.e., as a formal matter the benefits of inherited status are lost (although E+ seats are usually retained or can be gotten back, baggage is usually granted, one can board with highest priority passenger). This also matters for the return.
This thread explains various scenarios and considerations as to whether it is desirable to split the PNR before T-24 and the consequences of having it happen.
Questions to consider:
1) Do you mind if not all passengers are upgraded? If you are willing to have some people remain in coach, then splitting increases your chances of an upgrade before T-24 because sometimes only one upgrade seat becomes available at a time. In such scenarios a group of 2+ will be skipped. If you can't be separated, don't split until forced to do so. If you really can't be separated, consider a call to UA to ask to be marked not for upgrades.
2) Once you get inside T-24 your PNR will be split, unless you make a special request that it not be. Each passenger will be placed on the upgrade list in accordance with the above. This doesn't matter much on the outbound flight unless there are IRROPS, in which case it may be tougher to get accommodation for all passengers.
3) On the return flight(s) the companions may no longer have the highest level of status of all passengers, including baggage allowances (E+ seats are usually retained). However, some recent reports are that companions retain the status of the highest passenger on the original PNR, even after it is split.
related threads
The stupid PNR auto-splitting at T-24 needs to stop
Splitting up partner airline award reservation
Archive thread : To split or not to split PNR {Archive}
Companion policy
One companion traveling on a paid ticket on the same reservation as a Premier member is eligible for Complimentary Premier Upgrades on select flights, and may be confirmed with the same priority as the Premier member, even on the day of departure. If the companion is a Premier member, the upgrade will be processed according to the highest Premier status level in the reservation.If a reservation includes three or more travelers, and only one is not a Premier member, the Complimentary Premier Upgrades will be processed according to the lowest Premier status level in the reservation. If two or more travelers on the reservation are not Premier members, it will not be processed automatically. In these cases, Premier members should call the Premier Priority Desk to request a separate reservation for themselves and the eligible companion.
For elites, an itinerary for multiple passengers will remain together until ~T-24. If the upgrades clear before then, the PNR remains together. If they have not cleared by then, the PNR will be "split" when you check in for purposes of upgrades, with waitlist priority in accordance with above. The splitting has consequences regarding eligibility for "inherited status" - i.e., baggage allowances, upgrade priority, boarding priority for passengers with lower status than the highest status passenger. I.e., as a formal matter the benefits of inherited status are lost (although E+ seats are usually retained or can be gotten back, baggage is usually granted, one can board with highest priority passenger). This also matters for the return.
This thread explains various scenarios and considerations as to whether it is desirable to split the PNR before T-24 and the consequences of having it happen.
Questions to consider:
1) Do you mind if not all passengers are upgraded? If you are willing to have some people remain in coach, then splitting increases your chances of an upgrade before T-24 because sometimes only one upgrade seat becomes available at a time. In such scenarios a group of 2+ will be skipped. If you can't be separated, don't split until forced to do so. If you really can't be separated, consider a call to UA to ask to be marked not for upgrades.
2) Once you get inside T-24 your PNR will be split, unless you make a special request that it not be. Each passenger will be placed on the upgrade list in accordance with the above. This doesn't matter much on the outbound flight unless there are IRROPS, in which case it may be tougher to get accommodation for all passengers.
3) On the return flight(s) the companions may no longer have the highest level of status of all passengers, including baggage allowances (E+ seats are usually retained). However, some recent reports are that companions retain the status of the highest passenger on the original PNR, even after it is split.
related threads
The stupid PNR auto-splitting at T-24 needs to stop
Splitting up partner airline award reservation
Archive thread : To split or not to split PNR {Archive}
To split or not to split PNR
Oct 12, 2023, 1:04 pm
#136
Join Date: Oct 2005
Programs: Continental
Posts: 1,589
Splitting a pnr
My wife and I (both 1k) are traveling phx-iah-fra-ist, returning ist-ams-sfo-phx.
we are wailisted using my plus points .
I was thinking to split the pnr, to give us a better chance for upgrades. We are ok if only one clears.
Can I do this now rather than wait for olci?
There are segments on LH and TK which are not wailisted of course, but will splitting have a negative effect?
we are wailisted using my plus points .
I was thinking to split the pnr, to give us a better chance for upgrades. We are ok if only one clears.
Can I do this now rather than wait for olci?
There are segments on LH and TK which are not wailisted of course, but will splitting have a negative effect?
Oct 12, 2023, 1:22 pm
#137
Join Date: May 2006
Location: New York, London, Sydney
Programs: United GS/2MM, DL*P, VS*G, AA*EXP, Avis CHM, Hertz Platinum, Sixt*D, HH*D, HGP*P, Starwood*P
Posts: 9,847
My wife and I (both 1k) are traveling phx-iah-fra-ist, returning ist-ams-sfo-phx.
we are wailisted using my plus points .
I was thinking to split the pnr, to give us a better chance for upgrades. We are ok if only one clears.
Can I do this now rather than wait for olci?
There are segments on LH and TK which are not wailisted of course, but will splitting have a negative effect?
we are wailisted using my plus points .
I was thinking to split the pnr, to give us a better chance for upgrades. We are ok if only one clears.
Can I do this now rather than wait for olci?
There are segments on LH and TK which are not wailisted of course, but will splitting have a negative effect?
Oct 12, 2023, 3:08 pm
#140
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,057
have an agent do the split and then check partner websites to ensure it was done right. This is usually not a problem and pretty standard, have done it many times w/o any issues.
Oct 15, 2023, 9:59 am
#142
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: BUR / LAX
Programs: UA MM/Gold; WN A-list; HH something depending; Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,553
Priority check in, extra baggage, priority baggage, lounge access.
Star alliance gold on TK benefits? and
From TK: Star Alliance Gold card owners enjoy priority check-in, use of special passenger lounges, priority boarding, extra baggage allowance, and priority baggage claim at the airport as well as priority status on reservation standby and airport waiting lists. https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-i...els-questions/
Star alliance gold on TK benefits? and
From TK: Star Alliance Gold card owners enjoy priority check-in, use of special passenger lounges, priority boarding, extra baggage allowance, and priority baggage claim at the airport as well as priority status on reservation standby and airport waiting lists. https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-i...els-questions/
Oct 15, 2023, 2:27 pm
#143
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fort Lauderdale
Programs: UA: 1K 1.5MM, DL: LTDM 3.5MM, JB: Mosaic4, LH: exSEN 1MM, Bonvoy LT Titanium Elite, Hertz PresC
Posts: 266
My wife and I (both 1k) are traveling phx-iah-fra-ist, returning ist-ams-sfo-phx.
we are wailisted using my plus points .
I was thinking to split the pnr, to give us a better chance for upgrades. We are ok if only one clears.
Can I do this now rather than wait for olci?
There are segments on LH and TK which are not wailisted of course, but will splitting have a negative effect?
we are wailisted using my plus points .
I was thinking to split the pnr, to give us a better chance for upgrades. We are ok if only one clears.
Can I do this now rather than wait for olci?
There are segments on LH and TK which are not wailisted of course, but will splitting have a negative effect?
Oct 15, 2023, 3:17 pm
#144
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,057
Well, the upgrade chances might increase but when you have an IRROP later on, you will regret it. I just returned from S.A. (CPT), where UA canceled two flights in a row (CPT-IAD) which left 2 x 250 passengers to be rebooked. I was split because of an outbound upgrade split. For the return, the system rebooked us on two different flights (one of us CPT-EWR and the other CPT-JNB-EWR) for the “short” 16 hour flight back to the US. The “linkage” of the two new records were completely ignored by the system when rebooking us.
Oct 17, 2023, 10:37 am
#145
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fort Lauderdale
Programs: UA: 1K 1.5MM, DL: LTDM 3.5MM, JB: Mosaic4, LH: exSEN 1MM, Bonvoy LT Titanium Elite, Hertz PresC
Posts: 266
Oct 18, 2023, 3:25 am
#146
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Between AUS, EWR, and YTO In a little twisty maze of airline seats, all alike.. but I wanna go home with the armadillo
Programs: CO, NW, & UA forum moderator emeritus
Posts: 35,432
gether. But those notes are not processed in any automated way on any airline I've ever traveled on.
Oct 20, 2023, 5:19 am
#147
Join Date: Mar 2022
Posts: 6
Split PNR and Upgrade Confusion
Hi - flying LAX-SJD in December in economy on the way down with my wife. I am 1K and my wife is Gold. I have applied Plus Points for the upgrade on our (now) single PNR. I called in to ask about splitting the PNR and the agent said that we were #1 and #2 on the Upgrade list but we would be #1 and #7 if we split the PNR so didn't split. There are only 5 seats left on a 12 seat cabin so I'm thinking PZ=2 won't happen and called back. The agent I talked to at that point said that there were plenty of seats available and I should wait to split the PNR. She also said that if we waited until T-24 (or check in or thereabouts) the *single* PNR would be on the upgrade list (not sure what this is called when it goes from the pre-check in list to the secondary/airport control upgrade list) and we would be #1 and #2 on the
Everything I'm reading here is saying that if we keep the single PNR (and likely do not get upgraded and even get skipped if PZ=1 shows up rather than PZ=2), it will get automatically split and we will have our own PNR with our own priorities (ie, I'm #1 and she is #6 due to Gold). If this is the case what point is there to keeping the PNR intact with a near 0% chance of upgrade? I understand chancing it and waiting to T-24 if the priority remains the same but this seems wrong.
I'm sure I'm either operating off incorrect or incomplete information so any guidance and advice is appreciated.
Everything I'm reading here is saying that if we keep the single PNR (and likely do not get upgraded and even get skipped if PZ=1 shows up rather than PZ=2), it will get automatically split and we will have our own PNR with our own priorities (ie, I'm #1 and she is #6 due to Gold). If this is the case what point is there to keeping the PNR intact with a near 0% chance of upgrade? I understand chancing it and waiting to T-24 if the priority remains the same but this seems wrong.
I'm sure I'm either operating off incorrect or incomplete information so any guidance and advice is appreciated.
Last edited by todd236; Oct 25, 2023 at 8:29 am
Oct 20, 2023, 6:22 am
#148
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,417
The PNR will automatically split before checkin if the upgrade request is still applied. Your wife will have the same priority as you, since it inherits from the original reservation (I am not sure if this still applies for a manual PNR split by an agent, but I actually think it does).
Oct 20, 2023, 9:40 am
#149
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,412
The chances of either upgrade clearing in advance are virtually nil, and in fact you have little chance to clear at all, even at the gate. 5 seats available for a flight in December is a terrible sign.
Dec 6, 2023, 2:01 pm
#150
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Redwood City, CA USA (SFO/SJC)
Programs: 1K 2010, 1P in 2011, Plat for 2012,13,14,15 & 2016. Gold in 17 & 18, Plat since
Posts: 8,826
Split PNR before or after check-in?
Traveling with my non-elite Wife, SFO-HKG. Our upgrades cleared, but I want to switch one of us from miles to plus points (I only have 40 plus points so had to apply for upgrade with miles+$$$ for both of us.
So, do I call to see if they can split the PNR and change my upgrade from miles to Plus Points before check-in, or after? Thanks!
So, do I call to see if they can split the PNR and change my upgrade from miles to Plus Points before check-in, or after? Thanks!
Last edited by Mike Jacoubowsky; Dec 6, 2023 at 3:46 pm Reason: Clarity... upgrade already cleared, just want to change to PP