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The stupid PNR auto-splitting at T-24 needs to stop

Old Aug 13, 2013, 12:23 am
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Last edit by: Guate87
What is this whole PNR auto-splitting thing about?



First, you need to realize there are two separate upgrade waitlists. There's the advance upgrade waitlist, which runs periodically from your applicable upgrade window until about four hours before departure, and the airport waitlist, which is manually cleared by the gate agents about 30 minutes before departure.



The first waitlist can handle an elite and a companion automatically. If you're next in line for an upgrade and there are at least two upgradeable seats available, you'll both get the upgrade.



The second waitlist (the airport one) can only handle upgrading one traveler on a PNR. If there is more than one person in your reservation when you check in, you'll be asked if you want to either split the reservation if waitlisted for CPU or stay on the same reservation and decline being on the gate waitlist. For supported waitlisted upgrades (PPs or Miles) you will not be asked and it will split (without choice) at check-in.



Next, you need to be familiar with United's "auto-check-in" feature. If you select this option when you check in for your original outbound flight (depending on how you check in, it may automatically default to selecting this), then shortly after 24 hours before your return flight segment, you'll automatically be checked in and boarding passes will be electronically delivered to you. discontinued



If you opt for this and the system automatically checks you in, and if you have two people in your reservation, the system will automatically split your reservation. You and your companion will now be on two separate reservations, and you'll be waitlisted for an upgrade and your companion won't.



Why might splitting be bad?



[color=#000000]If your companions are not elite, they will no longer qualify for the elite benefits they inherited from you. That means no free baggage (including credit card companion bag benefit), no Economy Plus seating access (although they won't be booted out of E+ if they're already seated in it, barring irregular operations), no Premier Access, and potential issues in irregular operations as a result of being on a separate reservation (they may be rebooked on a separate flight from you without agent intervention). If you have TSA pre-check your family traveling with you on the same PNR can use the precheck line - which they cannot do if you split. And if you are traveling with children
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The stupid PNR auto-splitting at T-24 needs to stop

Old Jul 31, 2017, 6:35 pm
  #1141  
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 285
If our PNR had been spit at or before check in on the outbound flight, how/why did my husband get upgraded with me (even seated together) on one of the return legs, but didn't even show on upgrade list for our connecting flight on the outbound? It seems he had my status on the return, but not the outbound?
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Old Jul 31, 2017, 9:09 pm
  #1142  
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Originally Posted by mmthomps
If our PNR had been split at or before check in on the outbound flight, how/why did my husband get upgraded with me (even seated together) on one of the return legs, but didn't even show on upgrade list for our connecting flight on the outbound? It seems he had my status on the return, but not the outbound?
Actually, I have a guess for that as well. The elite PNR splitting process creates a new PNR for the Premier member and keeps the companion(s) on the original PNR. My guess is that the old PNR had already been checked in and was flagged 'do not upgrade' (because you'd already cleared in advance). That status likely carried over for the remainder of the outbound, but resets at the end of a day of travel. Someone at BUR or SFO could probably have "fixed" this by clearing that flag and getting your husband on the list, but unfortunately there was no way to put things back the way you wanted, on the same PNR.
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Old Aug 1, 2017, 8:43 am
  #1143  
 
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Thanks for the explanation!
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Old Aug 15, 2017, 8:29 am
  #1144  
 
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I had to buy a two-way ticket (2 pax) as it was international and applied GPUs. The intercontinental legs cleared but the domestic ones haven't yet and I don't think it will on the outbound today.

I would prefer to keep the reservations together rather than splitting to ensure we're kept together in IRROPS (other pax is non-elite, I'm 1K). As such, when I check in I'll opt not to split and waitlist.

When I decide not to split on the outbound, will this affect the waitlist for the domestic leg on the return? That is, will it flag "do not upgrade" the whole reservation or just on the outbound leg when I check in first?

Thanks!
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Old Aug 15, 2017, 8:52 am
  #1145  
 
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I have only faced this issue a couple of times. I'm Silver. My wife rarely flies. I booked us on round trips. I wasn't expecting an upgrade. I could move both of us into E+ at T-24 on the outbound but could not move her on the return even though there were many E+ seats available.

Since, both times, she got E+ on the outbound, perhaps for future flights I should just book two one-ways??
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Old Aug 15, 2017, 10:41 am
  #1146  
 
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Originally Posted by mrt88
I had to buy a two-way ticket (2 pax) as it was international and applied GPUs. The intercontinental legs cleared but the domestic ones haven't yet and I don't think it will on the outbound today.

I would prefer to keep the reservations together rather than splitting to ensure we're kept together in IRROPS (other pax is non-elite, I'm 1K). As such, when I check in I'll opt not to split and waitlist.

When I decide not to split on the outbound, will this affect the waitlist for the domestic leg on the return? That is, will it flag "do not upgrade" the whole reservation or just on the outbound leg when I check in first?

Thanks!
My recent experience is that if you are waitlisted with an instrument, you will not be offered a choice - it will split automatically when you check in. (it won't split if all the flights you are checking in for have cleared).

You would need to call in and cancel the waitlist before checkin.
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Old Aug 15, 2017, 10:47 am
  #1147  
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Originally Posted by villox
My recent experience is that if you are waitlisted with an instrument, you will not be offered a choice - it will split automatically when you check in. (it won't split if all the flights you are checking in for have cleared).

You would need to call in and cancel the waitlist before checkin.
However, to address the OP's concern - since the bookings were done one-way, the outbound is not impacting the inbound at all.

If I were the OP, i'd let it split - in terms of IRROPs, the non-elite is now a J customer - not much "bad" could really happen since you're flying with that person anyways. At worst, an auto rebook on separate flights can easily be handled.
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Old Aug 15, 2017, 11:30 am
  #1148  
 
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Originally Posted by aacharya
If I were the OP, i'd let it split - in terms of IRROPs, the non-elite is now a J customer - not much "bad" could really happen since you're flying with that person anyways. At worst, an auto rebook on separate flights can easily be handled.
IME if the reservation is split as it was an upgrade the non-status member will not be protected.

I was traveling with a friend on a joint reservation and had us both upgraded using my GPUs. The reservation was split (without me knowing) so when the IRROP happened I was protected in J for the next flight but she was not, and in fact ended up allocated a middle E- seat.

As I was first in line for the rebooking I was able to successfully negotiate her back into J (as someone from the flight decided not to the rescheduled flight) but we were not seated together.
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Old Aug 15, 2017, 11:32 am
  #1149  
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Originally Posted by Kensterfly
I have only faced this issue a couple of times. I'm Silver. My wife rarely flies. I booked us on round trips. I wasn't expecting an upgrade. I could move both of us into E+ at T-24 on the outbound but could not move her on the return even though there were many E+ seats available.

Since, both times, she got E+ on the outbound, perhaps for future flights I should just book two one-ways??
You can either stop the PNR from splitting, or call to get your wife assigned E+ if she falls off your PNR.

Originally Posted by villox
My recent experience is that if you are waitlisted with an instrument, you will not be offered a choice - it will split automatically when you check in. (it won't split if all the flights you are checking in for have cleared).

You would need to call in and cancel the waitlist before checkin.
This. And if done this way, it will not affect the waitlist on the return.
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Old Oct 9, 2017, 2:41 pm
  #1150  
 
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I hate this

Originally Posted by UA-NYC
There were 5 of us on 3 different PNRs for flights home tomorrow (done so to maximize UG chances and make sure we had bags covered). I did auto-check in for the flight home, but nowhere did I agree to split PNRs at T-24. Lo and behold, we're now on 5 different PNRs (one of whom is a minor), and of course the new ones didn't show up in my account (had to log in under their MP numbers to find the info).

How do we stop this in the future? An incredibly annoying "feature" IMO.

This is BEYOND ANNOYING.

United needs to make the default a "no split" and the check boxes should be "split". The default should not be a split because on the phone, once you hit "check in", you are automatically split, and there is no option on the phone to let you not do this.

This sucks so bad.
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Old Oct 9, 2017, 3:17 pm
  #1151  
 
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Originally Posted by SFflyer123
This is BEYOND ANNOYING.

United needs to make the default a "no split" and the check boxes should be "split". The default should not be a split because on the phone, once you hit "check in", you are automatically split, and there is no option on the phone to let you not do this.
Why would anyone want to check in for a flight with a phone call? Do it online or with the UA APP
I don't have time to be on hold for who knows how long to check in for a flight.
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Old Nov 16, 2017, 2:06 pm
  #1152  
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Angry

This involuntary PNR-splitting logic continues to be the bane of my check-in experience. It's asinine that the prompt to split the reservation or refrain from joining the upgrade waitlist has been removed, and instead that the former choice is made automatically.

Touching wood that after some cleanup involving partner segments everything is going to work, but there are still some worrying signs. Hopefully no more to come, but possibly more to come.
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Old Nov 20, 2017, 8:59 pm
  #1153  
 
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Thought this had been fixed, sadly I see it hasn't. Messed up my check in and split the reservations. The wiki does seem out of date though as it focuses on auto check in.

What's the damage here for my companion (non-elite) and I (elite) now that i've split our reservations? Upgrades?
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Old Nov 25, 2017, 7:51 am
  #1154  
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Originally Posted by 100% Green
Thought this had been fixed, sadly I see it hasn't. Messed up my check in and split the reservations. The wiki does seem out of date though as it focuses on auto check in.

What's the damage here for my companion (non-elite) and I (elite) now that i've split our reservations? Upgrades?
Agree that the wiki is out of date. I don't have enough experiences to figure out when or why the auto-split happens (except obviously that it involves waitlisted upgrades), but one experience is enough to know it is aggravating that it does.

For whatever it's worth, it seems that the companion status is more reliably retained now, at least in some aspects. My companion retained BG1 throughout, although on a domestic flight with CPU our upgrade list positions were so far apart it seems dubious that the priority was correct.
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Old Nov 25, 2017, 7:59 am
  #1155  
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Originally Posted by fumje
Agree that the wiki is out of date. I don't have enough experiences to figure out when or why the auto-split happens (except obviously that it involves waitlisted upgrades), but one experience is enough to know it is aggravating that it does.
Yeah, if you have instruments waitlisted, and you don't want to split, you need to remove the instruments prior to check-in. Otherwise, without instruments applied, you will be asked at check-in whether you want to split the PNR to waitlist for the CPU.

From my perspective, the most immediate consequence of the auto-split is that one pax can get upgraded without the other.
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