Can anyone tell me if there is a best way to handle the following situation: A friend of Mrs B is going to be traveling with us to LHR, however she originates and terminates from STL and will connect in ORD to our flights ORD-LHR-ORD. Due to pricing considerations, her segments of STL-ORD outbound and ORD-STL return will be on paid tx, while her segments ORD-LHR-ORD will be award tx. Currently she can find Saver on the LHR-ORD segment, so we might book that as a separate one way and hope to book the ORD-LHR as a separate tx later if Saver opens up... otherwise we will book ORD-LHR as Everyday award later.
Question 1: Once all the segments have been booked, can I call UA and have the ORD-LHR and LHR-ORD tx consolidated under one confirmation/reservation?
Question 2: If the ORD-LHR LHR-ORD segments are one a single confirmation (either by consolidation in Question 1, or if we just book the RT upfront) can we get the cash paid STL-ORD-STL tx consolidated with the award tx for ORD-LHR-ORD? We want to insure her baggage at STL outbound and LHR return can be transferred through at ORD without her picking up luggage and re-checking. I also think it would help with making sure UA sees her connecting in ORD if there are any delays in STL-ORD or LHR-ORD. We have allowed 3 hrs on connection at ORD for outbound, and 4 hrs connection at ORD for the return.