Originally Posted by ezefllying

I'm surprised to hear about FriendlySkies's friend's luck, too. The rules explicitly state that companions must be on the same flight (and on the same standby reservation) as the "sponsor" -- the employee -- to be eligible for int'l F.

In my brief experience at UA, int'l F was carefully guarded so that only employees and their accompanied companions could standby for it, including when F was wide open. On several occasions, my unaccompanied companions (and, in one case, parents) flew TPAC in Y because there was no availability in C, even when F was relatively empty.

This also applies to spouses/partners/Enrolled Friends traveling with companions. My Enrolled Friend (individual designated to receive partner-equivalent travel benefits by an unmarried/un-partnered employee) made the mistake of questioning a GA when told that he and his companions could not standby for F to PEK because the employee was not traveling as well.

Also, to get pretty technical, I learned that employee-accompanied companions can't fly F if the employee checks in as a BP10 to save the service charge. In that case, the companion drops to BP8C and is treated as unaccompanied. I had to reissue my boarding pass as a BP8A to get my companion an F seat, and the flight left with four seats open in F.