Forgive the questions but I'm coming out of a difficult medical nightmare and am FINALLY returning to work, and with that comes flights. I've given up trying to figure out the new system where I look for flights and see mostly United flights on CO.com.

I know that CO is merging with United. I didn't think it had started yet but as I am attempting to book a trip, almost every option is a United flight. I'm on CO.com and I'm a Plat, so I know how to book a flight. What's confusing is that the few CO flights offered are more expensive than the United ones. Also, the United flights are through O'Hare mostly as I'm based in Detroit, and they are for less miles than going through IAH. THAT is affecting me greatly. I might lose my Plat status this year b/c eventually I'll have to take the United flights offered from DTW.

I'm not trying to be difficult, I just want to know what I'm looking at. I've read a few threads and am confused. Here are my questions:

IF I am booking on Co.com and it is a United Flight, can I use miles to UG?

If I book on Co.com and it is a United flight, will I be upgraded automatically based on availability, or must I have a United FF number?

If so, how are the UGs doing? Are we upgraded as often as we are on CO?

Does Plat status with CO trump Gold/Silver on United?

Should I be combining my CO account with a United one, or are we not doing that yet?

As a fan of the Direct tv and any IFE, what should I expect from United planes?

Do I earn the same miles on United? I mean, Plat miles?

In all honesty, am I better off status matching with Delta? They fly direct from DTW. I love CO but am worried that the best parts of CO won't be surviving the merger. I don't much care for Delta as they inherited NW's fleet and I hated those planes. I'm also very lucky and haven't flown economy in about 2 years on CO. I did get upgraded at an astonishing rate.

I've got my BF flight to Scotland next month on CO and another flight to Newark, but am wondering if after that, I will be looking at mostly United flights. Already my 2 favorite morning flights to Vegas (through IAH) seem to have disappeared. The flights offered on CO.com are almost all United flights.

I GET that we're merging. I will have to be a big girl about earning less miles per trip. I am guessing my UG rate will drop drastically. I'm just not sure if I'm supposed to switch to a United FF account or just keep booking on CO.com, even with most flights being United from DTW and onward. And I want to know what to expect from United as far as meals and IFE are concerned.

I'm sure there's a way to figure this all out. I went one month w/o flying and suddenly I don't recognize anything. Now I'm back and man, is it confusing!
Thanks for "listening" & hopefully posting some basic help. This IS confusing, and the pain pills I'm taking aren't helping my fuzzy brain!

Yes, the company is trying to route you more efficiently to keep their costs down while getting you to your destination faster.
No.

Your OnePass number will work but you'll do better to link it to a MP account and use that on UA metal.
Just like on CO it depends on the route/day/time. You will do better with an MP number as noted above.

No/Yes, though they are called Premier Executive (1P) and Premier (2P).

Unless you will be crediting over 100K EQMs to each account this year I'd recommend linking them now.

Overhead monitors on most aircraft. Channel 9, too, assuming the captain has it on.

Yes.

Yes. I wouldn't bet on it.

Thanks! What is a MP account? Will THAT allow me to use miles to UG on United flights booked on CO.com? And how do I link the United and CO accounts? My head is swimming!

Haven't flown United in many, many years. So sad to hear we can't use miles to UG! I have a few choices where the 1st flight is United and 2nd is CO but who wants to use 15,000 miles if it only UGs one flight? And Plat isn't above Premier? Wow, this is a lot to get used to. And while it's possible to get 100K on one airline, I highly doubt it. I appreciate them trying to be efficient, but I miss the flights through IAH that brought the miles up. I was hoping to not need to make any extra flights, but am guessing that even 75K won't be enough this year. I REALLY don't want to status match with Delta. But if United doesn't offer DTV and Plat isn't enough to get me the UGs, might as well go with the home team. Although I WILL give United a chance before making THAT choice.

And I thought the medical decisions were difficult, LOL!

15K miles for an UG on UA could upgrade you all the way HNL-SFO-JFK-IAD-SJU for example, as long as there is no "break".

UA isn't the airline for DTV. But it is the airline for (relatively) very comfy E+ seats if your UG doesn't clear.

Rather than answer the questions inline, as that seems to just bring up more questions when you're not quite sure what you're asking, let me see if I can give you a road map.

First step - open a Mileage Plus account, which is UA's equivalent to One Pass.

Second step - go to Sneak Preview: New Mileage Plus/OnePass mileage transfer and Elite status tools to read about the process and find the link to link the two accounts. This will give you the equivalent level on mileage plus. If you're Platinum, that will give you Premiere Executive (1P) level on United.

When you book United flights, use your Mileage Plus number, as you will have higher upgrade priority as a 1P than CO Plat.

If you'd like to upgrade your United flights, you can transfer miles from your OP account to MP without penalty (and transfer them back if the upgrade doesn't clear). This means that you CAN use miles to upgrade United, but they have to be in your mileage plus account.

Hope that culls it down to just the basics to make it easier for now. When you figure out the elements, then it does get a bit clearer. The key is to realize that while they're still operating independently, there are tools so you can still benefit regardless of which carrier is operating the plane.

Oh yes, and one NICE thing you'll like about UA - you can automatically select Economy Plus seats, no extra fee.

You can now simply do it from your OnePass account as they have a link right there.