leonidas

Phew! We got upgraded on both flights. Pretty remarkable for a a Gold member flying with non-status wife getting upgraded on WAS-ANC flights on G fare.

mgcsinc

Well, I'm finally the one dealing with this crap. I have a LAX-EWR-LAX r/t scheduled with my (no-status) GF over Labor Day weekend. We had to book it as an r/t in hopes of not losing the whole thing to change fees if she ended up having to work. Our outbound leaves about 65 hours prior to our return flight.

My number one priority, I think, is keeping Plat benefits for us both. We plan to return to LAX with six bags at 69.5 lbs each. Upgrades would be nice, but they're honestly not looking too likely, despite the holiday weekend.

My thought was that I won't split the reservation at any point. I'll just wait until after the T-72 window has passed for the return, and then go ahead and check in for the outbound, declining the split. I know we'll definitely be out the outbound upgrade if not upgraded by then. Then, sometime later, I'll call and have the do-not-upgrade flag removed. For the return, I'll wait until close to the flight to check-in.

Thoughts on my plan? Is asking an agent to remove the do-not-upgrade flag working consistently these days? If I did decide to split, would there be any way to guarantee that we get our appropriate baggage allowance?

Thanks for any feedback!

SeaRaptor

Recently, when flying r/t, I've only ever been offered the option to split on the outbound. If I decline it then, UA doesn't ask again when I check in for the return leg. Your plan should work perfectly if you decline on the outbound. You won't appear on the upgrade lists for either leg, and will retain all of your baggage allowances.

This whole mess is one reason Mrs. SeaRaptor and I have quit buying r/t tickets and are doing everything with two one-ways when traveling together: if we want to roll the dice and try for the upgrade, we can do so without affecting the other half of our itinerary.

If you decide to split, my experience suggests that you won't have any issues keeping your baggage allowances and upgrade priorities on the outbound. The trouble will inevitably come on the return, when the UA system no longer remembers that your GF should continue to share your status even though she's now on a new PNR.

villox

My thoughts:
- I would wait as long as possible, until T-3, to check-in for the outbound. You give the longest chance for the CPU process to run for the outbound and return (it doesn't always run at the windows). Keep in mind people move around on flights (there are like 12 a day EWR-LAX) so availability is always changing!
- Decline to split on check-in, but then call immediately to remove the do not upgrade flag for the return. The flag applies per segment, not PNR.
- Again wait as long as possible to check-in again for the return. I have been in a situation where I did all of the above but split at T-24 checkin for the return, and a bunch of people got cleared at T-3 (I did, my companion did not, and people below him cleared ahead of him because the CPU process didn't see him on the split-off PNR).

There should be no worries with any splitting anyway, because you can tell the agent that your companion should get the benefits too. But it does mean you need to talk to someone and can't use a kiosk.

mgcsinc

Thanks for all the feedback.

It's true that there's a lot of moving around on that route, so that's a good point. Indeed, we might decide to try to move around a bit, which is another reason that I want to make sure that her elite benefits don't get screwed up. (The return flights EWR-LAX are not quite full, even given the holiday.) I'm not sure that companion SDC benefit is published, so I'd like to make sure to be able to continue to do that automatically.

As for keeping the benefits even after the split by talking to an agent, is that a 100% sure thing? I would think so, but people here seem to talk about splitting as if it really puts things in jeopardy when it comes to benefits for the companion.

Boraxo

Is somebody moving cross-country? That's a lot of luggage for a weekend trip.

If your rez does split the key thing to watch are the seat assignments. If GF gets demoted to E- you will need to act fact.

aacharya

As you well know, people talk about "the sky falling" due to split PNRs. The only net direct loss is the lack of CPU and Premier Access on BPs. The baggage issue is easily fixed at check-in. I have yet to see an IRROPs in a split PNR situation that caused a major issue (I realize the the computers may do this automatically, but that is rectified by CS).

The real "loss" is time waiting in line to fix things, and the "loss" of trust in UA's IT.

villox

I have had no problem convincing a club agent to do anything I would have otherwise been able to do if I hadn't split. I've even gotten them to SDC us to another flight (I changed mine first on the app, then told them to move my companion). You also have to ask them to change your seats, but this is no different than if you were with a companion on a different PNR to begin with.

The premier access thing is pretty irrelevant since you can always take a companion with you to piggy back for both security and boarding.

Baze

DEN to SJC in June. Major thunderstorm basically closed Denver airport. This was our return. I (mistakenly) did not uncheck the box when we checked in for our outbound. When flight cancelled we got booked on separate flights to SFO and she got CPU'd. I am the Gold member and she has it due to MM spouse match. This was her first trip of the year. Took an hour on the phone to get it all straightened out and we ended up flying into SFO and having to take BART and train and bus to SJC to get our car. She kept her CPU and I ended up taking the $89 buy up. I know, I said before I would never do that but this was a special case and $89was cheap enough for this occasion. There were no seats in coach to move her back, not that I would do that to her. We spent the night in Denver. So the auto splitting is a real pain in the rear as far as I am concerned. So I know next time we fly together to make sure and uncheck the box when checking in for the outbound. So yes, IRROPS can cause a major issue when PNR's are auto split.

aacharya

As I noted, the real loss is time during IRROPs. The rest of your issues had nothing to do with the split, but IRROPs itself. One needs to separate the two.

Baze

But the problems would not have been that bad during the IRROPS if the PNR's had not been split. The computer would not have put us on different flights if we had not been split. The IRROPS started the mess, The splitting made it worse and harder to resolve. They go hand in hand. When there is no IRROPS split/not split makes no difference. It is precisely when there is IRROPS that the splitting becomes a problem. That is reality. When you face the issue yourself you will realize they are not separate. Have you had to deal with the issue of split PNR's and IRROPS?

aacharya

I don't disagree with you, partially. But the note about driving a car, sleeping in DEN - would have happened either way?

Baze

The spending the night in Denver and getting to SJC from SFO I will grant you is a consequence either way but the flight parts most certainly is a pain and is what took the most time. If we had not had split PNR's we would most likely have been auto rebooked on the same flight. But as we were split we were not on the same flight and that is what took so long to take care of. And the snowball effect if we could not have gotten on the same flight would have been worse but I won't get into that part of why we needed to be on the same flight. All I am saying is the splitting added problems that should not have been there and I am only referring to the flights and the consequences of being split. And to go into a little more detail she was auto rebooked and I was not. It was when I called in that I finally got a fligt and everything straightened out and it took almost an hour to do. The hotels and other arrangements were more time that I would have had to do anyways so in that respect you are right. But the auto splitting caused its own problems with just UA getting us home.

And saying you are aware of it doesn't answer the question, have you had an auto split and IRROPS happen to you. If not fess up and admit you have not experienced it personally. If you have then I guess things worked smoother for you than it did for me and plenty of others on FT.

aacharya

I have not experienced IRROPs during a split reservation.
Remember the context in which I addressed mgcsinc's query.

Baze

Granted the loss of benefits is not an issue in my case as she gets gold due to my MM but the IRROPS is a major pain when they are split. Those losses of time you seem to play down are a huge thing when trying to put things back together (not referring to rejoining PNR's) after the computers mess things up as it has no idea you are together because the PNR's were split. The splitting adds a lot of time that should not have to be added. Basically you have to give up a benefit of status to not split the PNR's and that is not right and having to deal with the mess of splitting the PNR's when IRROPS does occur is not right either. Keep the PNR's together, just make a note that upgrade will only happen if there are 2 spots and IRROPS will be easier to handle as the computer, CSR, whatever will know there is more than 1 person to deal with.

So until you have to deal with it personally you don't know the actual consequences, what you say is speculation of how it goes in your mind. And yes, I will not make the mistake of not unchecking the box when we fly together again.