Originally Posted by
zippy the pinhead
No idea. I'm guessing the former.
No we did not. To be direct, if they had asked, I probably would have considered it as something not to be given, maybe a little like a social security number, probably because I was assuming that once the PNR was "claimed" by a UA profile with the KTN, all would proceed as when I purchase a ticket directly (Pre-Check would be indicated).
I don't think it works like that for Mileage Plus numbers, either. United doesn't just throw a number in there by some kind of name matching (which could go wrong).
edit: To hopefully make a clearer answer, I don't think United ever "claims" a profile. It has a profile by the passenger providing a Mileage Plus number (often through being logged into their Mileage Plus account).