Kacee

Would that have been an auto-split? Wouldn't OP have been asked at check-in whether he wanted to split the PNR to waitlist for the upgrade? I thought the auto-split happens on the return as a consequence of auto check-in.

It's not entirely clear to me what happened here. Except that you can't upgrade only one of two pax and stay on a single PNR.

WineCountryUA

And you can not get on the gate waitlist w/o splitting the PNR (usually done without awareness during the OLCI).

johnden

This, 1000 times this. Why Why Why!!! Can we fix this, please! .

I want my upgrades AND I also don't want my return to be rebooked via two different hubs on two different days during IRROPs. Seems reasonable. Just waitlist flyers as usual, as highest-status-flyer, then highest-status-companion, etc.

UA-NYC

It's why I started this thread about this incredibly stupid issue 3+ years ago...some things never change

(Remember this is all basically due to SHARES limitations)

johnden

Yes, but they DO get it right for CPUs using the highest status then the "companion" priority, which I'm not sure is implemented correctly.

They also allow the OLCI/Same-day buy-up upgrades for a single passenger on an itinerary without splitting.

This is only an issue for instruments/miles upgrades.

hookthem

This is a huge annoyance for me, as well. The thing that irks me the most is that I have been forced to pay for my partner's baggage because of the split (I was maxed at 3).

physioprof

Ugh. Did that rebooking really happen to you and a companion? I had never really thought about it, but my wife and I frequently travel together, but on two different PNRs. (This is because we generaly have lots of cancelled tickets sitting around for one or the other of us, and as appropriate we use them to travel together.)

Is it never possible to combine PNRs or otherwise indicate that two people on two different PNRs are traveling together and shouldn't be split up on IRROPS?

hookthem

I have been told that combining PNRs is impossible (system limitation).

When the split happens, the system indicates on each PNR that they are related to one-another. However, this doesn't mean that anyone looks at it during IRROPS.

waxearwings

In my experience, once the split happens, the system acts as if these are any other distinct PNRs. And if there is a note, I don't think it is obvious or easy to find, because I always have to tell the agent on the phone the information of my companion.

The splitting to get on the upgrade list must create much extra work and CSR contact time. Obviously, it's a major issue during IRROPS--I have not experienced being auto-rebooked on different itins, but it causes confusion when calling in to manually make changes from whatever sill auto reroute SHARES spits out. I've also had seat assignments messed up--if the gate agents manually change things around, there is nothing to indicate that you and your companion should be seated together. I can imagine that is extra frustrating and confusing for those who don't fully understand the way PNRs work.

johnden

The auto-rebooking (or perhaps behind the scenes manual rebooking) during IRROPs has some connection to status. When flying with a companion with lower status I'll often get different treatment.

If I'm auto-rebooked on the last flight of the evening, by the time I can call to rebook my companion, the only flight that can accommodate both of us is the next morning, etc.

Wifi in the sky has helped a lot with this, I can rebook us both in the air before the flights fill up. The mobile app is also very useful during tarmac delays to avoid problems. However, despite re-booking manually via the app, sometimes I will still get auto-booked onto yet another flight. Lots of corner cases here. They each happen at most 1-2x a year, but annoying. This winter was pretty bad for IRROPs in the northeast, ORD and DEN.

emcampbe

I don't believe its implemented correctly. In the years when my wife and I have been the same status, we've always been one after the other, and I've found pretty consistently the person who is closer to the top is the one who's account we were signed into when checking in.

However, the years when I have had status one level higher, I find that there are enough times that people are sandwiched between us. Not always, but sometimes, and I suspect when there aren't, its more of a fluke, and that the system is putting companions of plats below all true plats (and with other status levels). But where it is described on the website, it sounds like the priority described should be the same as me, i.e. it should be me (plat), then my wife (plat companion), then next plat, then next plat companion, etc.

Nope, I don't believe this is correct. If you buy-up just for you, and not a companion, when it processes, the reservation will most definitely be split.

PNR combination is impossible. On UA, and on any other carrier. Any time anyone talks about linking completely separate records, its a note, which only helps only if an agent reads it, and does nothing for an automated action (rebooking in IRROPS, for example). The only way to "combine" a PNR would be to book both on a completely new one and delete the existing ones, but don't know how that would work in showing that its been paid for, etc.

However, there definitely is some trace of the split at some point. I know I've had an agent before who was able to retrieve my wife's record when I called without me giving them their name or PNR. But I think there is somewhere in the automation even that can see it now, which certainly wasn't there in the past. Last month, I split the record on the outbound when traveling with my wife - I am plat, she is gold. Even after the split, the system continued to confirm she was eligible for a CPU at 72 hours prior, and this was definitely not the case last year. Now of course, I got the upgrade in advance, and she was #1 at the gate, and would have cleared, if it wasn't for WX issues and we had to rebook.

Flying Kiwi

I was actually talking about travel from New Zealand to the U.S. You can fly direct on Air New Zealand, but they typically charge several 100 $ more than going by way of Australia. (And in an especially nice touch for an airline 51% owned by the government - i.e. people - of New Zealand they charge substantially more for round trips starting and ending in New Zealand than those starting and ending in the U.S.)

But I have done the 4 crossings of the equator trips several times, too, flying from New Zealand to Argentina. Back-to-back overnight flights (one from Australia to the U.S., one from the U.S. to Argentina) make for interesting travel experiences. I took my wife along on the last trip to Buenos Aires, and she felt like the ground was moving the first day.

Wow, I should wish more often: http://hub.aa.com/en/nr/american-air...ralia-6-9-2015

Hmmm, not sure how many I get. How about "I really wish UA would return to crediting miles based on distance traveled, rather than money spent."

cfischer

that sounds odd. I have never seen this problem when showing the original reservation to the agent. Most agents are aware of the problem and can override charges.

Pookie1794

I thought this problem had gone away? Upon check-in at SJO the agent informed me that we had our PNR split because she could not check us in without doing that. (partner is Silver) Is that right? FYI-I was checking in at the airport, did not do so online beforehand so I didn't click some magical box authorizing it as some posters here had been told in the past.

transportprof

Were you on an upgrade waiting list? The only way to extend this past T-24 is to split the PNR.