Originally Posted by
jsloan
You may be able to do OLCI with a BE fare. You will only be able to get a boarding pass if you either have elite status / a United-branded Chase credit card or if you indicate that you're checking at least one bag. Passengers with no status and no luggage have to use the kiosk and likely see an agent. (Depending on how charitable you're feeling, either UA is enforcing the no-carry-on rule extremely strictly or they're trying to make sure that you don't get surprised at the gate with a $50 fee).
You may or may not get a seat assignment. If you do not, it will be assigned at the gate. If you have more than one flight, you may get an immediate seat assignment for some flights but not for others.
Just adding my own experiences here, since I recently did BE while being a United Chase card holder, but without any status. I was able to OLCI and skip the kiosk for a BE flight purchased directly through United.com. I even got an email reminder sent to me.
I flew another BE booked with points through the UR portal, and experienced the "cannot check in online, please see an agent" message. I then had to argue with the counter agent that I
was allowed a full size carry-on because of the credit card, but they relented before I had to point out it was stated on the large posters in front of them.
Did not get an E+ seat, but did get randomly assigned a window seat