Not sure if you can get away with an overweight bag at the counter. 1K's are allowed an extra bag but there's nothing about giving a free pass on an overweight bag. Does she have status?

Best advice: Go to Wal-Mart and buy a collapsing duffle bag and put it in your luggage. If you are over weight (the bag I mean), just put some of the luggage in the other duffle.

I've seen a lot of people having to rearrange luggage to get under the 50 lbs.

Good luck with UA.