Originally Posted by
cfischer
it's really not UA's fault though. The OP should have not let the UG request go through which split the PNR and caused the issue on the AA side of the equation.
Within minutes of the CPU notification, moments after we arrived to the departure gate, we requested the GA to reverse the CPU and she told us it was too late.
Originally Posted by
ContinentalFan
She didn’t; she was upgraded on the last leg of the outbound flight on United, which split the record. On the return, which was on an AA flight (presumably none in the party of four had status with American), she would have had to pay extra to sit with the other three traveling companions.
It’s just interesting that I, and our two sons, were seated in premium ($) economy seats, but my wife wasn’t. I do have an AAdvantage credit card, but neither of us has any status on American.
Originally Posted by
spin88
There is no godly reason why UA's system "splits the reservation" for CPU upgrades. It causes all kinds of issues. My pet peve is that when I travel with my family, I can't check in my kids since they now have a different PNR. And since they are under 18, it requires me to get someone to come over and help me. Every time it happens I got "GRRR, what idiot created this system".
The idea that united elites should give up CPUs to prevent PNR splitting is just harebrained. It is a benefit that UA offers, and it should not come with side-effects.
Here United did the right thing (moving the ticket over to AA) and it is unfortunate that the PNR splitting has created issues for the OP as a result.
I agree, the only option is to (a) pay AA, then (b) ask UA to pay them back.
But long term, the PNR splitting issue which has been infecting United for the last 8 years really ought to be fixed.
Thank you for your empathy.
One thing, to clarify, the original transfer to American in DCA had a single PNR which was split only when we arrived to Houston and received the CPU.
Originally Posted by
cfischer
of course the split PNR is the issue
As Gary points out, our chief concern is now having baggage fees when we enjoyed the liberal baggage allowance on United coming down. Thankfully, much of that was gifts which won’t be returning with us.
Originally Posted by
malgudi
You are not owed a seat swap
Nor did we feel that way. We understand that our problem wasn’t the other passenger’s problem. We only hoped for some graciousness. We were wanting to trade two aisle seats a row apart.
Amazed that anyone would accept moving to a seat that someone else has already sat in, whether you're the mover or the moved. Wouldn't you want the new seat sterilised again before you sat in it?
I understand your concern. Our efforts were while we were still boarding, so no one had yet sat down, other than our kids in E & F... as 1K, there were few other passengers onboard yet when we were trying to work out the seating. We were disappointed with the passenger’s denial to trade, but fully respected her choice. We ended up with A, B and C in the same row after more empathetic passengers voluntarily stepped up.