Was considering a new thread but seems relevant to this one.

Last week Mrs. B accidentally did a voluntary split using the app to checkin, and UA completely lost her connecting flight!

We originally had a one-way SFO-PVR nonstop but due to a cancellation we were re-booked on SFO-LAX-PVR with an overnight layover at LAX. The app would only issue mobile BP for SFO-LAX (apparently needed passport verification) so I checked myself+child (no split) and my wife made the mistake of splitting the rez at checkin (who wouldn't say "YES" when asked if they wanted to stay on the upgrade list.

We land at LAX and I go to the transfer counter to get BPs for everyone. Myself+child, no problem. Child #2, no problem. When they get to Mrs. B she is informed that her reservation has disappeared and they have rebooked her on LAX-DEN-PVR.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? HOW DOES THE SYSTEM LOSE A RESERVATION WHEN A PERSON IS IN THE MIDDLE OF THEIR JOURNEY??

Anyway the "supervisor" was eventually able to put Mrs. b back on the LAX-PVR flight in the same seat, so all is well that ends well. But I still don't understand how the system can just cancel you out in the middle of a trip when you have checked in and flew the first segment. Maybe her first BP didn't scan?

Ironically the staff also put her on a return flight PVR-SFO, apparently they must have thought the system lost that as well. Of course we no showed on that one...

The moral of the story here is always get your connecting BP as soon as you can ...

That is precisely how it happens.

It would have been SOP for all downline segments to be cancelled and thus need to be rebooked.

I've applied PlusPoints to my parents. I ended up splitting them in advance because there are 5 seats left in F and they are now 4 and 5 on the upgrade list. In case only 4 people clear at T-48 or T-24, I didn't want them both to lose the upgrade when one could at least get it. If PN=4 and they are 4 and 5, then they need to split in advance or it'll skip since there's only 1 PN availability for 2 people.

Agent said that it won't matter in the system and would automatically split them rather than skipping... she's wrong, right? Or has something changed?

PN or PZ, are these GS PlusPoints?

What is J inventory and how long till the trip?

If there is not enough space for all passengers on the PNR, none will clear.

UA generally will not clear the last 2 or more spaces until the gate.
Not until check-in, then that will happen.

Question for the braintrust.
Just bought economy tickets for my family of 4 (2-GS adults & 2-general member kids) from CLE to MUC. I applied pluspoints upgrades to try to get us into polaris and we are currently waitlisted. I'm thinking of splitting the PNR to increase the odds.
Is it better to split it as 2 PNRs with 2 passengers each (1 GS Adult + 1 General Member kid)
OR
Split 4 ways and hope the kids retain the GS instrument status on the waitlist and pray there are no irrops?*

*We are ok with not ALL being upgraded together.

Is there any worse outcome than this (all four not upgraded) if you split into 2 and 2? If you split into four ways and three of them get upgraded, who will sit in the back? If the answer is yourself, you'd better not do it.
Good luck to any decision that you will make!

Yes, the answer is me. I'd rather sit in the back alone than let an upgrade certificate expire unused if it could have cleared.

It sounds like you are suggesting splitting 4 days for my trip in June will increase the odds?

The wiki's on this thread and a companion thread (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...hensively.html) are good resources. They explain the pluses and minuses with splitting non-status passengers from a single PNR. It is difficult to predict the chance of success three months in advance for 2x2 vs. 4x1 splits. If there is P fare for sale, PN may magically appear. Otherwise, it does not matter. You could split out 1 or 2 now and decide on the next step of action later.
Good luck.

Personally, I would do the initial split of 2 and 2: there are plenty of times I've seen PN=2 space, and not many where I've seen PN=4.

Of course, PN=1 is even more common, but the reason I lean against doing that relates to check-in down the road. For an int'l flight, if a kid is on a separate PNR, you probably won't be able to check in ahead of time for that child. I would still monitor the flight like a hawk, though, and if PN=1 appears, that would be worth the added check-in hassles for me.

(This is just my perspective as someone who has booked and flown many trips as a family of 4 with 2 1ks and 2 children over the years; YMMV with your GS status.)

Thanks for the tip! I went ahead and split 2 and 2 for now.

We are planning a EWR-SYD RT in April. My plan is to apply Plus Points for all of us, and ordinarily I would book separate PNRs for each of the 4 pax (2 adults, 2 kids) to maximize upgrade chances. However I noticed that I am getting a decent discount via "Break from Business". My plan to to book the trip on a single PNR to get that discount (since the discount only applies on PNRs that include the primary discount eligible pax, which is me) and then call in to GS and have them split the res into 4 different PNRs, and then apply Plus Points. Is this a viable strategy?

Book as one PNR, apply the upgrade, then request the split. It's less important with GS points, but this will carry forward the priority of the request (usually).

Got my first UA flight in 2 years coming up in April. Single PRN with me, mrs tht and 2 mini tht, booked with an ETC and credit card (non UA one if I recall) . It’s just a domestic EWR to Florida. I am Prem Gold as 1MM and my wife has other Prem Gold. The app says CPU eligible. So 2 with Gold status, 2 with MP number only.

We have seats ABC D. My main priority is to keep us together and minimize issues during any changes/cancellations/delays. I forget how it works at checkin? Will I be asked if I want to split and I just say no? And then it’s all or nothing for a CPU (which I assume won’t happen) ?

As noted above, if you want even a minimal chance of a CPU you will have to split - preferably 1 gold + 1 mini THT per record. I can't speak to EWR but if you were at SFO I would say don't bother as Golds rarely clear CPUs [MENTION=110828]sfo[/MENTION] (heck 1ks have a poor average) and your primary objective is to keep your seats and reservation intact in the event of IRROPS.

With 2 golds and 2 companions, you're all in the gold upgrade bucket. When you check in you'll be asked whether you want an upgrade and to designate a companion. Designate one child for each adult. You'll be warned that you could get split in order to clear an upgrade. But you won't get split unless an upgrade clears. That's what's changed in 2 years - the system is now sane so you don't need to game out whether to split the PNR.

thanks, this was exactly what I was looking for. I need to take that in to account when I select seats so that I would not leave us sat apart if one pair clears. Right now I have:

mini, mini, mrs ISLE tht

so maybe a:

mini, mrs
mini, mr

or mini, mrs, mini ISLE tht - 2 isle seats should be good enough to get a fair trade for an isle middle to sit together if we get an UG.

on the outbound the F seat map has 50% unassigned, on the retuen it’s already showing 0.

given all the variables the downside from the mrs if anything goes wrong is worse that the very remote chance even 2 will clear… and the older mini (7) already complained last time we flew that he did not have a flat bed like his 2nd flight to London… so a “coach reset” may be a good idea anyway.

The list ordering can sometimes be a mystery, but if you pair child with parent, you're likely to appear with you and and your spouse x, x+1, with minis x+2 and x+3 (probably you first if you booked tickets and have lowest ticket number). So I would align seats with that in mind (i.e., put first likely upgrader in "worse" seat.)

So depending on what you want to end up with, I would put yourself in middle, spouse either in window or far-side aisle and two kids in what's left. Then you will either end up losing a middle first, which is easy to take from any other of the seats, then with two aisles, or window/aisle and can trade as needed. Obviously with two upgrade your spouse will take a child up front.

Of course, as golds this is probably all academic - the open F seats will go to GS/1K with plus points applied on a refundable fare, if they aren't purchased first.

thanks. yes I guess assuming people will trade thats the best plan. I am now juts thinking ahead for future bookings not this flight. Not messing with it and yes based on past experience I would probably put the mrs upfront…

last time I failed to give the now mrs tht the only UG was a LAS- EWR… and I never lived it down… note I did “offer” the seat in F to her, but not directly, I asked if she planned to drink… when when said no, I took it as drinks were free up there… needless to say I was not in good standing when I ran warm cookies back to her and ironically my seat mate was also an UG and his wife was next to my now wife in the first row of E+ with an empty middle so they were not that badly off.

You're lucky they didn't plot together about how they'd both cut off all of your (warm) nuts after that!

PlusPoints Waitlist - To Split or Not To Split
 

I haven't seen this question or missed it in this long thread: Spouse and I are on a paid PlusPoints eligible ticket (single PNR) with PlusPoints requested (Polaris or PP option) round-trip MCI-EWR-ATH, MUC-IAD-MCI. On our last trip to STT, we split as I saw seats in PZ come and go even though #1 and 2; I then called when I saw 1 seat in PZ. So one confirmed and the other waitlisted. and were ultimately both upgraded, so that was great. I've been watching for PZ and RN and haven't seen anything. We are #4 and 5 for upgrade as we were last month. So do we split to get a seat confirmed as soon as it opens up (assuming it is 1 at a time)? Almost all my travel is domestic, so I am a PlusPoints neophyte internationally.

Concerns: Per UA 1K chat -
Agent: I can go ahead and work in dividing the reservation and put the other passenger on a different confirmation number. But as a reminder, once divided, I can no longer merge it in the future. In case the upgrade using PlusPoints was not confirmed, as a Premier 1K member, you will still be rolled over to the Complimentary Premier Upgrade. But your travel companion will no longer be eligible for Complimentary Premier Upgrade because the reservation is divided and she'll be on a different confirmation number.
Me: On our flight last week I got a notification at check in to split my reservation, did so, and my wife was still upgraded with me [FYI UAX YX].
Agent: During check in if there's only one available seat for upgrade, it will prompt you to confirm but the reservation will be split or not confirm and wait until your companion also gets upgraded. However if we divide the reservation prior to check in, the system will no longer detect it since the Complimentary Upgrade request shows up during 24 hours before flight departure.
- is the last agent's statement splitting correct that pre-checkin splits lose companion's CPU chances?

What are your thoughts and guidance if correct?
I haven't split for now given the above - given if we don't get upgraded by PlusPoints (which is looking more doubtful by the day), I suspect our best/only chance would be due to misconnects, so I think I need to keep that option, as it sounds like post check in splits keep companion on the CPU list. I would like at least one to upgrade (I would switch so Spouse is up front at least). There are currently 13P and 4 PP seats showing on the map, down from 21/8 last month. We're #1 and 2 on the return from MUC (772, ~25% more P/PP than 78X to ATH and many more open seats) so no worries there. Maybe ATH will upgauge to 772. Also I thought I read somewhere in Program enhancements, there was to be a double PlusPoints to confirm but that hasn't been offered, and I did not see it at upgrade request (unless I missed it).

I have an upcoming trip. Single PNR, 1K + one companion, return upgrade has already cleared. Outbound is ORD-ZRH on a K fare. I only have 80 plus points remaining though. I would like to apply the plus points for one pax and miles+cash for the other. It seems that splitting the PNR is the only way to do this.

I believe that splitting the PNR will not affect the already cleared J upgrade on the return, but will my companion receive my 1K status for priority with my PP on a split PNR? I've read anecdotally that if the request is applied before splitting the PNR the status will carry over, so should I apply MUA to both, split PNR, and then cancel my MUA and replace it with a PP waitlist?

A good (safe) strategy!

Your logic seems sound. Maybe try calling the 1k line to get a confirmation as to how it works. This seems like something they would know.

I can confirm this was the case with my award flight right until T-24. Then at check-in I moved way up as Plat, my Silver spouse stayed about where she was and the 2 children dropped off the list. But they shouldn't have been on the list anyways since they are no status and it is an award ticket. No splitting or option to split occurred. This was my first time traveling with the whole family since xmas 2019.

Any recent reports on this?

My experience is if you split PNR before check-in, each passenger will be on his/her own status. If PNR is split after check-in, when passengers are placed on upgrade standby list, then higher status applies to both passengers.

When it asks you during checkin, is that considered before or after? That's the only way I was aware of to split a reservation online.

After. Online check-on does not split your PNR. If you choose to split, system will only split PNR if at least one of the passengers clears upgrade later.

It's been a while since I've done OLCI on a PNR with more than one person. If I recall, there's specifically a question asking if you want to split the PNR (ie. preserve the upgrade or be removed). If I understand you correctly, if you choose the preserve the upgrade (ie. split), it does not actually do the split unless the upgrade clears? When/if that happens, the other pax (ie. no status) would retain the upgraded pax's status?

I just seem to remember one time in the past, doing this and it actually splitting, causing issues with the other pax trying to check a bag. I distinctly remember that no one got upgraded though. This was a while ago though, perhaps back in the auto-checkin era.

As others have mentioned,sometime back (over a year ago), UA changed the process and the splitting will occur on if needed to actually partially upgrade some.

I had read in another thread that if a 1K purchases tickets for himself and a companion with no status, and applies PlusPoints to both persons, that if the ticket is ultimately split even before check in, that the companion without status keeps the 1k status with plus points applied. I am guessing this is beneficial for International flights where if PZ1 keeps opening up months in advance one at a time it doesn't skip two people together at the top of the list.

Yup, this seems to be true. I had applied PPs to two no-status companions, origininally on the same PNR, and after we split they were still at the top of the waitlist.

I had a reservation with me (1K), Mrs. IMissthe747 (Platinum), my mother (general member) and my daughter (lap infant). I used the app to check in, since I needed to scan my daughter's passport for the first time. Check in was successful, and we were all on one reservation. I was not asked if I wanted to split.

Later in the day I was upgraded, and the system split me onto a separate reservation. A few hours later my wife was upgraded, and she was split onto a third reservation.

My mother never showed on the upgrade lists once the reservations were split. We had a leg departing out of EWR that went out with two open seats up front, and the agent would not upgrade my mother, despite her eligibility as my traveling companion originally on the same reservation.

Not sure if the lap infant screwed things up in the system, or if it was just another "lucky" day in EWR.

This is eerily similar to what happened to me out of EWR today as well. I got upgraded and split off from my girlfriend. Gate agent wouldn't add her to as my companion. Our flight took off with multiple open seats in F.

Sorry the bad luck bug got a hold of you too. Not sure what's going on at EWR.

There use to be a warning the three person PNRs even with two elites needed manually process to be handled correctly
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...questions.html
Additionally there have been on/off issues with a lapchild getting cpu.

Beware Upgrading Non-Premier Family/ Friends
 

Long time lurker, first time poster. Maybe the following issue is my fault and I should have looked into the process better. Nonetheless wanted to share in case it helps someone else out.

I’m PP. Wife is PS. As we always do, we booked a trip with our 3 kids on a single itinerary meaning because I’m PP we all get E+, free checked bags, and because wife and I have TSA Precheck kids always get it too. We always decline the CPU list to stay together. But on a recent short flight, all CPU’s had cleared and there were 4 available F seats still. I thought hey, would be fun to put wife and kids in F, what a treat. Talked to the gate agent, got it done no problem. Family had a great flight in F and all was well for me in E+.

No good deed goes unpunished. Getting the CPU’s meant we were all split into separate itineraries. So now for our remaining travel on this trip, all of our kids: 1) Can’t check in until we are at the airport (minors on individual tickets). 2) Don’t get free E+ 3) Don’t get free checked bags 4) Don’t get TSA pre-check. 5) Get boarding group 4. Absolutely was not worth the upgrades. And honesty kind of mind-blowing to me there’s this glaring problem in the process.

Nonetheless, is what it is. But figured worth posting so maybe it doesn’t happen to someone else.

1) Probably true, although it's possible that an agent might be able to clear that flag
2) Definitely not true; call and they should be able to be seated in E+ as your companions
3) This isn't supposed to happen anymore, but I suppose might. You might be able to get reimbursed after the fact if you ask UA, but no promises.
4) No info
5) They can board with you anyway.

This is the relevant thread: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...split-pnr.html

Call in to get E+ ... you don't have to pay for it in this circumstance.

Sometime during COVID, I think TSA stopped giving all passengers on the same PNR PreCheck if at least one passenger had it.