Originally Posted by
J.Edward
My $0.02 is if you can get a UA GA to protect your upgrade on LH/AC/NH keep a low profile, try to check in online or get UA to issue your BP, avoid going to the lounge, avoid talking to the GA, and hope you can slip through the cracks.
I think this is great advice. In my case with Asiana, I tried to check in online, but it errored out. I thought this was bad news for flying in J. Turns out Asiana just wanted to see I had a return flight to the US (since return was on UA as originally booked). The Asiana check in agent asked, and the gate agent even called me up to verify I had a return flight (I thought they were calling me up to downgrade me!).
One time I had a confirmed RPU in the US, and the UA flight had IRROPS. The UA check in agent rebooked me on AA in first. I did not check in for the AA flight online (I think I didn’t have the AA PNR or something), but instead checked in with an AA agent. She immediately noticed the cheap ticket and sent me back to UA to tell them to rebook me in coach. To this day I wonder if I would have flown first if I had just checked in online and not talked to anyone.