If the flight shows up as "xxx doing business as United Express" I believe they should count. The biggest area this appears to be a problem is w/r/t Silver Airways, where the flight shows a UA #, is listed as "Silver Airways dba UAX," and yet United denies credit for the miles altogether, won't allow for award redemptions on those flights, etc.; for whatever reason, these are being treated by UA as if they were partner flights on Silver, vs. Silver dba UA.