Yes, not sure when exactly but some time in 2020 this went away.

You can always bring kids 12 or under through PreCheck lane if the adult has PreCheck.

Thanks, this is helpful, looks like they could push through the E+ seating. Talked to an agent, they did tell me specifically the checked bags would not be free for the non-Premier passengers but we could request reimbursement (whether it will go through or not is another question). Also nothing they could do about not being able to check in until the airport so we’re stuck there.

As far as the TSA stuff (reply to other posters), our kids always end up with Pre-check when they’re on an itinerary with us, I think just because they are minors. Definitely true another adult on the itinerary wouldn’t get it post-2020, but seems not to apply to minors unless we’re always lucky. At any rate they’re not all under 12, so we won’t all be able to go through pre-check this time.

This wiki may help in handle maintain benefits when the PNR is split at the gate for upgrades. It is from https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...solidated.html
The bag benefit shuld been possible, sometime you have to ask the agent to check the PNR history to see the split occur. Contract agents (aka no real UA empolyees) that handle bag check may be misinformed.

This is a new twist as it probably only applies to kids older than 12 without their own PreCheck.

Traveling EWR > STT with 3 non-status family members on Sunday and just looking to double check this beforehand. I have Gold status so everyone receives 2 free checked bags. When I go to check in, if I split the PNR in order to have a chance at the upgrade, will the rest of my family lose their 2 free checked bags because we are no longer on the same reservation? I’m wondering this for both the flight there and return flight home. It’s paramount that they get the free bags, but I also would love to get the upgrade if I can.

If you get upgraded and the PNR gets split, yes there is a substantial chance they will lose free checked bags. I’ve heard there are some airport agents that will still help you out, but it’s in no way a guarantee or required of them to do so. Beyond just that, once PNR is split it’s split. So say you get upgraded on the way out, then on the way back there’s irops. Could get you into real trouble. After my own recent PNR split debacle upgrading my family but not myself (no good deed goes unpunished), I vowed I will NEVER do that again. Not worth it. Enjoy being with your family on the flight.

Not sure what your issue was, Irrops should be no problem but will require require the help of an agent. Same on bags, it requires the agent to look up the record history. Many have reported most past split PNR issues on return flights are gone.

*** Prior Issue ***
Looked up your earlier posts and most issues were addressed, to repeat1) The OLCI issue for minors is a problem
2) Yes, you get free E+ on separate PNRs but requires a call
3) Yes, you get the bag allowance but you need to specifically ask the agent to check the PNR history
4) Children 12 and under can accompany their parent thru PreCheck without have the precheck sysmbol. The over 12 childern, surprized they get that on a common PNR, TSA has gotten stricter about companions needing their own PreCheck (except for 12 and under)
5) High boarding group groups can board with those having lower boarding groups

So splitting PNR requires a bit more manual effort but most issues addressable with a little knowledge (the purpose of this thread).

But if you're not looking for it, how do you know when it was split? I'm annoyed that somebody, not me, split the PNR my son and I are on, and due to irrops, I now have to deal with two different PNRs, one of which may or may not have the same status that I have (I'm Plat, he's non-elite). I don't know why it split, unless it was because one seat in Biz had opened up and the only way to put one of us in Biz and the other in PE would have required splitting? Which in the end wasn't needed, *if* that was the case, since I passed on the Biz ugrade and stayed in PE with him.

I'm going through a lot of nonsense trying to fix what UA broke by delaying my flight an hour, missing my MUC-LYS connection. Hoping to get the destination changed to MRS so I can still get to where I need to go in time, but UA is saying they can't do that, talk with LH. And now I just looked and discovered the two different PNRs. I have a different thread for the destination change request. Thanks-

To have different cabins / fare classes -- including upgrading only one requires splitting the PNR.

I am on a United reservation with myself (Plat), mother (gold), dad (silver), and four other family members w/o status (general members). We are all seated in economy plus. We are headed to/from Europe connecting both ways in the US on an all-United metal itinerary.

The first flight is coming up and is J9 and 10 seats showing unreserved in first. Would love to hear any advice and recommendations on how to split the PNR (never done before). Can I call United and split before into two groups: myself and one general member passenger, and then my mother, father, and three remaining general member passengers? It sounds like if before T24, the auto upgrades would skip my big group in preference for reservations of two or less? The additional complication is that the second group has a gold and silver together - what does that do for upgrades?

The return domestic leg is currently J6 with six unassigned seats (weeks out) but it'll just end up working however we figure out the PNRs above.

Thanks!

No longer on the website but in the thread's wiki concerning CPU
Is anyone showing CPU eligibility now?

Nobody, including myself, is showing CPU eligibility.

What would it do if I did me (plat), my dad (silver) and a general member in one reservation?

Again from the wiki

Thanks forgot I read that!

I split into two PNRs/reservations and my reservation does not show CPU eligibility for any of the all-US domestic legs. Should it automatically show up? We decided not to split the other group up.

Me (plat) and one general member
Mom (gold), dad (silver), and three general members

Sometimes icon doesn't show until you reload the reservation. I assume you did that at least once already, though.

If still not showing, changing seats might get it to come back.

Otherwise, my best guess for what to try is call and ask if agent can remove and re-add MP#.

edit: afterthought, if you have pluspoints, might try applying them and then removing them (assuming PZ0).

You and GM should be CPU eligible
The other PNR will not be CPU eligible because you don't have enough elites to support three GMs. You would need to split off one GM, or split again with gold+gm and silver+gm and then a lone GM. On the other hand, as a gold a CPU is highly unlikely to clear, and even less likely a silver so it may not be worth the complications this creates for reservation management.

Moving seats did not work. Never done PlusPoints upgrade than cancel. No availability on any of my flights.

Yes, exactly why I didn't bother breaking up that second group. Gold is unlikely to clear and my mother didn't really care about getting upgrade vs complicating.

PlusPoints waitlist then cancel didn't work either. I shall wee what happens soon and report back.

Updated: it shows me and my GM family member on the waitlist even though my reservation page didn't show the CPU-eligible. I think it looks good to get upgraded. Cross fingers.

Thinking about splitting PNR with 3 people into 2+1, since my wife and I (Silver and Gold respectively), have a better chance of upgrading via a MUA on the outbound flight rather than the 3 of us (3rd person has no status). I have already applied a MUA to the inbound for all 3 of us on the current PNR and we're on the waitlist. Miles and $s came from my accounts. Outbound: IAH-ORD-FRA-Schengen. Inbound: Schengen-MUC-IAH. Inter Schengen flights are on LH.
Questions:
If I split the PNR on the outbound and apply a MUA for IAH-ORD-FRA, will the inbound upgrade request still be there for the 3 of us? I think the 3rd person will be further down on the waitlist after the split due to no status and it being separate from my Gold status?
If the inbound upgrades do not clear will I still get a refund of the miles and $s back to my account, more specifically for the 3rd person now on a separate PNR?
This is more of a curiosity rather than something I'll do, can I still buy up to First on the IAH-ORD segment even though I applied a MUA? Will the buy-up be visible?
Also, will this affect the LH PNR, will it be split as well? Fare class changes, complications? Have not changed anything on the LH flights yet.

Hopefully you can get a better (correct) answer from the pros in here. However, my experience with a split PNR was recent. I believe after the split your wife keeps your status on the waitlist, at least that’s what happened to us. Probably because we applied the MUA before the split?
Initially 3 people on one PNR. Applied a MUA for all 3 to our inbound flight. Later we split the PNR so my wife and I could upgrade on the outbound flight (not enough miles for 3, $ neither :)). On the inbound flight my daughter remained by herself on the split PNR (she has no status) but she was actually ahead of us on the wait list, but all 3 of us were together. I’m Gold and wife is Silver.

Instrument Upgrade w/ Split PNR at T-24
 

Apologies if this is in the wrong place - feel free to move. We've got 3 on a PNR (1 PP, 1 PG, 1 PS). Waitlisted for instrument upgrade to Business. Currently 3J left in the cabin. We've been top 3 on advance upgrade list for months (thanks to PP status of PNR originator). Question is, if we don't receive upgrade by T24, splitting into 3 PNRs during check-in is the best course of action? Correct me if I'm wrong, but if we split PNR before T-24, we'll revert to our respective status, but if split at T-24 during check-in, we'll all retain our top place (unless higher status comes along) on both advance and gate upgrade list (i.e, PP for the purposes of the list)? We're all in Business for return, so I'm not worried about lost privileges for the next flight.

While the system should work like you describe, I have recently experienced a conflicting data point.

My experience is it will not split at check-in automatically. If one person clears after check-in, it will automatically split the reservation and everyone will be reverted back to their own status which could move them down the list.

If the companions have no status, it retains the top status of the PNR before split.

Not great to hear! So in essence, if I split the PNR at check-in, there is a chance the 3 pax will revert to their respective status versus all retaining PP (for the purposes of the upgrade list)?

Yes. And you don't get a choice. If you check-in with an instrument upgrade requested, it will automatically assume you want to split if a single person can clear. If you don't check-in however it's an all or nothing upgrade for everyone on the PNR.

I feel like I've read on here that if you opt against a T-24 split, your PNR won't be added/considered for the gate upgrade list. Or that might just be for CPUs, not instruments. Any truth to that?

That's just for CPUs.

And my last question (I promise). At T-24, instruments could still be auto-processed until we get to the gate list (T-4?). So not splitting at T-24 could also result in the PNR getting skipped over (versus an agent manually processing)? More or less a crapshoot, but appreciate the insight.

Correct. The gate list is only used for upgrades at the gate whenever the flight goes to gate control (no earlier than T-1hr in most cases).

You don't get a choice. With instrument applied, UA assumes you want the upgrade.

So, safe to say PNR will auto-split at T-24 (being that we're still waitlisted for instrument at that point). Fingers crossed each PNR will retain highest status (PP) on the list? Premier agents on the phone can't even guarantee that's the case...

I could use some advice on whether to split or not and what the benefits and complications could be. Me (1K) and 2 family member companions (no status) traveling TATL in mid-Feb 2023 on R/T award (XN) on UA metal with just about all fare buckets showing 9. If I understand correctly at this point we are not eligible for CPU due to more than one companion. I have Chase Explorer card. Should I split one out to provide chance of CPU and if so what happens to the other traveler? Can I upgrade that traveler with $, miles, or +P?

Read a bit about this but haven't done it before and would rather not make a mistake.

TATL is not eligible for CPU.

You can of course purchase an upgrade for the three of you, if available. If you only seek to purchase an upgrade for the non-status pax, the PNR will need to be spilt (you can't have different fare classes on the same PNR). If you waitlist on an instrument (Miles or PP), but split PNR before T-24, your non-status pax will very likely fall to bottom of the upgrade waitlist.

How does upgrade splitting work?
 

We have a four pax pnr -- two pax are Plats and the other two are our minor children - for a trip tomorrow.

We're not checked in yet but appear as #1 thru #4 on the upgrade list (flight booked 11/16).

At OLCI united asks me to select which passengers I would like to list for an upgrade, and lists 2 pax total:

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...fe32cdc12d.png


Any guesses what happens to the PNR if I accept? Are we gonna get 2 records with 2 people each and 4 upgrade list spots? Or something more exciting?

Right now the system is buggy (or was of recent check) and you're likely to end up with two pax in the Plat slot and 2 in a no-status slot.

What should happen is that you would pair each child with a Plat parent and end up 1-4 on the list still.

I would wait to check in at airport so that you maximize your chances of making sure you stay in the right place.

Or decline the upgrade entirely and save the headache. I don't know what route this is but if a short flight then may not be worth the hassle. If not a short flight then unlikely that will remain 11/16 and your party #1-4 up to time of departure.

Yeah I mean this is a 400 mile mainline sector (EWR-RDU) and I'm practically indifferent to Y vs F. It's just fun to put the toddler in a comically large F seat and she hasn't gotten to do very much of that due to our 2020-2021 travel cutbacks, so wouldn't want to miss the chance :).

As an update, instead of using OLCI, we checked in at a kiosk. There's a special kiosk checkin flow that allowed each of the two Plats to designate one companion to go on the upgrade standby list, and we ended up as #1-#4 on the upgrade list, checked in, all still on a single PNR. The flight is now booked 17/16 in First (?) so I guess it's academic.