How to add a companion to your itinerary
 

Hi all,

I just reached Premier Exec. I have a question:

I am planning on taking a business trip in sep from LA-Boston and my gf would like to accompany. Is there a way I can buy the ticket with my work credit card and then buy a ticket for my gf with my personal credit card and add her to my itinerary so she can share with my status bonuses like being upgraded to economy plus together?

Welcome to FT!, gofrequentflyer

You can not combined two different purchases as a single PNR. But as an elite you can provide certain preqs to a companion travelling with you. The companion, even if on a separate PNR, can use elite checkin, security and boarding -- additionally they can join you in E+.

You companion will not get status mileage bonus -- those are individual preqs.

As for upgrades -- are you using miles or e500s or ???

The biggest upgrade issue is if they do not clear before DM (4 hours before departure) even thing is on individual status even if on the same PNR or not. For miles, there is not difference in priority for 1P or GM until DM -- it is first on the list. As for e500s the clearance window is normally on individual status but others have reported if you call you may be able to pass on your status to your companion.

Thanks for the quick reply! Ok so do i add my companion to E+ on the united website, at the gate or via the reservation phoneline before day of flight?

Usually through business I get a Y class anyway so i usually get a free upgrade to First. I have coupons or miles and could use either to upgrade my gf but I want to at least make sure she gets E+ and if we could site together that would also be a bonus. Any thoughts? I'm a veteran flying solo but have no clue how to do the companion thing and searching hasnt turned up anything for me..

I have found it difficult, if not impossible to book two of us on the same reservation if I am doing anything but a straight reservation. For instance, if I use a e cert, there is almost no way to combine the reservation on .bomb. Luckily I am a 1k, and I can call them and do it over the phone.

This is true for every airline I have tried, so it is not just a United issue.

Unfortunately you can not place you companion, if on different PNR, in E+ via the web, need to call and then watch for schedule/equipment change sweeps which will move the companion out of E+.

When you call what exactly are you asking for? I have called and it took 30 mins go explain that I wanted to add a companion to E+!

This should take not more than one minute -- id yourself and PNR, ask that XXXX on PNR YYYYY to sit with you in E+. Note this can only be one traveller and they need to be in the same flight/cabin as you are.
What in the world took 30 minutes???

Ok and I assume if you want to both get upgraded to first class, the only way to be instantly confirmed would be maybe to use miles since coupons don't seem to be clearing till I get to the gate while miles clear a couple days before in my experience...

If NF2 exists, using a confirmable instrument, such as miles, would take out the uncertainity. If your e500s have not been clearing until flighttime (which is not uncommon), your companion will have to clear on their status.

I think the term is outsourcing...

I'm working on doing this right now and it seems pretty painless-10 min so far

During the UA to Canada two for one promotion, I booked 4 round trips DEN/YYC, two "free" (i.e. taxes were not free), and two revenue.

The 1K agent told me these would be booked as two separate transactions, one for the revenue tickets, one for the non-revenue tickets. And indeed that's how they showed up on the credit card statement.

But they were on a single PNR.

If OP actually possesses his company's credit card, then I fail to see why UA should care if a single transaction is paid for with multiple credit cards. Everyone else on the planet can do it.

If OP's employer's travel agent is doing the transaction, then again, I fail to see why the agency can't do this on one PNR.

But I can imagine UA's online united.com system can't do it. Call.

Upgrading companion to economy plus
 

When dealing with two separate reservations, I was advised to call reservations and ask to "link" the reservations. This seems to facilitate upgrading my companion to economy plus.

ok pretty easy to do guys, just search on united with your status, find two economy+ seats then call united and get them to put your companion next to you at no cost

The two for ones are a special case -- both parties book into the same fare class -- hence they can be on the same PNR. This is also true for the MP VISA Companion Zone tickets. Key is "same fare class."
Two different fare class tickets (one C, one Y or one W, one K or one paid, one award or ...) can not be on one PNR and two separately purchased PNRs can not be combined into a single PNR.
The use of one or multiple credit cards is not an issue (except can not be done online).