km782

Hello,
I have Gold status on United. My question is what benefits are applicable to family members traveling on the same ticket as me? I know I only get a free Economy Plus seat for one other person. If there are 3 people in addition to me, do they get the same boarding group as me? What about if we have to make a Same Day Change? Do we all get to switch without fees? Thank you.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

You are not on the same ticket. You have multiple tickets under the same record locator. Record will be split with a same-day change and applicable fees will apply to each passenger based on their own status. Tickets will reflect their boarding group based on their own noted status or non-status if they are not award tickets. You can tell the gate agent the others are with you and you'll probably all be let through..

emcampbe

Your companions on the same reservation should get the same baggage allowance and boarding group. They should also get the same SDC benefit.

If this is a domestic flight, you won't get CPU in advance, as it is only allowed for you and 1 companion. If you want to try for that, you'll have to split two folks off, and then you and your companion will be eligible. If not, if you choose to split the reservation at check in to try for an upgrade, at the airport, you can designate one person as a companion to be put on the upgrade standby list with you - they should be right below you, but each will clear individually, so possible for one to clear and the other not.

lost*in*cyberspace

All three of your companions can get E+ seats with you and can also board with you.

Baze

But 2 of the companions have to pay for the E+ seats. Gold is only allowed to bring 1 person into E+ free.

Songer5

I've heard different things about the Same Day Change benefit. I'm in a similar situation (i'm UA Gold, my wife and child are not). Can anyone confirm from experience if my wife/child will have to pay the SDC fee?

WineCountryUA

If booked as a part of the same PNR, then companions will have the same benefit as the elite. If not the same PNR, then no.

goalie

How does it work in this scenario-

2 pax, 1 pax is gold and one pax has no status

Original reservation was one pnr but auto-spilt due to waitlisted upgrades

Does the fact that this was originally one pnr booked under gold come into play and would showing a hard copy the original itin and e-receipt showing the original booking come into play as the auto split of the reservation is no fault of the pax

WineCountryUA

The record should show the split and previous tie to an elite. So, it will require a manual request but it should be honored.

NgatesSEA

Agree - I've had very good luck (if not 100%, near 100% and never had to HUCA more than once) getting premier benefits for travelers split off of the original reservation if you call and explain. Never even really a fight. If you really care, you can ask United to notate both records when the split happens (I did this for a complex international itinerary and it seemed to help with *A carriers later in the trip).

goalie

Thank you both ^ and I'll pass the word on to goalie-parents

Mike Jacoubowsky

Original flight from ORD to MSN cancelled due to incoming weather. To standby for earlier flight, had to split the reservation I was on with my daughter, so I'm #1 on the standby list, she's #12.

So it appears for standing by for a flight, after a cancellation, you're forced to split the reservation, and the lesser-status person ain't gonna make it? The agent said something to the effect that they'll spot two people with the same last name and try to accommodate, but not sure if that means they'll just make sure that we're not split up (I get on and she doesn't... so neither gets on). Definitely don't want to leave her behind.
Updated after flight-
Different agent now working the gate. 27 people on standby list, I'm #1, my daughter #12. At first it looks like only one spot on the plane, which I decline, explaining that I didn't want to leave her behind. She surmises that it's a split record and my daughter was on my original PNR, says to hold on, does a physical check of the seating on the plane, a second person hasn't shown up so she gets us both on. I don't know if this is by the book or not, but it was certainly appreciated.

From what I heard shortly afterward, UA3705 was the last flight to leave ORD for a while. The thunderstorm was moving in right after we boarded, and I was wondering if they were going to shut down ground operations due to concerns about lightning strikes. It didn't look very friendly out there.