nlcbdw

I am a Premiere and I booked travel with 2 family members ORD-KOA, Rep would not put all 3 of us in Economy Plus, saying only one companion per premiere member. My wife won't allow me to put 2 in plus and 1 in regular. Is there anytning that can be done as this is a 10 hour flight and I was hoping for the extra 4" seat pitch.

jasonlaser

If at first you don't succeed, try try again.
Try calling again. If you get a good agent, they will most likely do it.

Took me a few try to get my wife in a sep rec locator into E+ with me to Hawaii.

Are all three itins in the same rec locator?

rufus102

See this thread about basically the same thing

Summary - book 2+1 and move the 1 at check-in. Check loads first though.

nerd

Welcome to FlyerTalk, nlcbdw!

bmr12

One of my favorite topics. And frequently discussed. Here are some other threads on the same topic in the past:

Here

Here

And finally, Here

nlcbdw

Thanks for the warm welcome and the advice guys.
And yes they are on the same reservation.
Im going ot try your suggestions.

ctkw

Seems like UA agents (both phone and gate) are holding tight to this policy, even for 1K.
Good luck.

Xyzzy

Why do they have such an inane policy?

DENPremEx

They have such an "insane policy" because without a limit on the number of people things would get out of hand. For example, let's say I am traveling with 9 of my friends from DEN to HNL and I'm the only one with status. I make the reservation put all my buddies in E+. There's a good chance some 1Ps, 2Ps or 1Ks may not be able to get an E+ seat. On a 777 that may not be a big deal but let's say we're taking a DEN - PXD (skiing at Mt Hood) on a 737. Don't you think there would be some 1Ps, 2Ps or 1Ks that may get pissed if we're taking up half of E+ and they are sitting in E-?

Personally I thinkt he policy is fine the way it is. Quite frankly, I'm the one with the BIS miles who earned the benefits not your buddies, your wife kids and extended family or your girlfriend and her pack of friends. I don't mean to sound hostile but let's be realistic, there has to be a limit on how many people you can bring up to E+ with you. RCC draws the line at spouse and dependent children or 2 guests and the RCC has a lot more available space than E+. I've never heard anyone complain about the RCC policy.

L Dude 7

I've usually taken the conservative approach. I'll usually try to get as many E+ seats as possible, and then roll the dice at the airport. It gets even more funky when award reservations are involved. (Once my wife and I had paid tickets, while our toddler was on a free ticket. She had a seat all by herself in E-. Worse case, plane is full, and toddler comes up front, and one of use goes to the back. Best case, the seat up front remains empty, and we all sit together in E+.)

On a recent trip, we had one E+ reservation, along with two free tickets on a different PNR. On the way out, it was packed, and my wife got the E+ seat, while we sat in the back. On the way back there was more space, and we all sat together in E+.

SEA_Tigger

What would be nice is if you have more then one "guest" for E+, you could pay the $25 (flat fee for elites, instead of graduated like it apparently is for non-elites so benefit there) for direct family members (spouse/kids). That way, families could all sit together, UA makes some extra money, and yet you won't have someone bankrolling half the cabin to get all their friends and cousins into E+.

DENPremEx

I like your idea as long as its limited to direct family members. I'm married with no kids so I may see things differently than most BUT I do travel with friends a lot (and a lot of friends at that). Its nothing for 8 or 10 of us to go skiing (SLC for example) and I never try to get all my friends in E+ with me because I know how I would feel if I was going somewhere and there were 10 guys packed into E+, 9 of whom didn't belong and I was stuck with an E- seat because one guy had status.

UNITED959

Not sure of your aircraft type, but it always helps to leave a seat in between the 2 E+ passengers. For example, if you're on 57s to KOA (good chance of that), book the A and C seats, leaving B open. Not many people are keen on taking middle seats when the outer two are already booked. There's a good chance the "B" seat will be empty on the day of the flight.

SEA_Tigger

And be sure to book the "third" person in an aisle seat in E-. Chances are if someone is booked into the middle E+ seat, they will swap for an aisle in E-. (You could do window, as well, but it's easier to swap out an aisle then a window.)

FlyinHawaiian

Hopefully the OP is on the new 777 run ORD-OGG-KOA.