OP here:
1 - my UA buddy flies domestic so he is not really up to date on intl flights
2 - in the past, his wife would handle buddy passes and unfortunately she is unavailable to hand hold me
3 _ they never had to deal with flight routes with multiple legs and many options at each leg of flight. United does not fly direct togermany from lax, so it both makes it more complex but also gives me many more options between muc and fra which should help avoid me getting stuck.
Thanks for the replies and sorry if I had upset any etiquette rules