My wife and I are planning a trip west this month, returning in Feb. I used my last remaining GPU to upgrade her on the flt out, but will just take my chances. Rather have her comfortable. It appears to have split the reservation, which shouldn't be a problem for me on the upgrade list on the way out, as I assume it will just go by my status, fare class etc. My question is has it split the reservation on the way home as well? Will she not be eligible for an upgrade based on my status on the return? Thanks!

Yup - there's no going back once split. You can add her as companion at airport, but chances are slim.

lessons learned.

i did speak to the "1k Desk" and was told the companion is NEVER given same status even on the same record, which i know is not true, but had the supervisor tell me that IF i clear prior to the 24 hr window to call back and they will often upgrade the companion if possible as well. She explained to me that this is a glitch in their system that they are aware of and are trying to fix as much as possible manually...she was quite pleasant as opposed to the initial agent who told me perhaps it "used to be like that but this is the NEW Continental United"....man...I miss the 1K 1 Call desk!

Background. MrZhu (Prem. Ex) and Mrs Zhu (general member) were on the same itinerary.


When checking in on my mobile device it asked me if I wanted to upgrade...I said yes (does anyone ever click no?). So apparently this separated our itineraries. I called in and they were kind enough to move my spouse up to first for the flight out (my upgrade had already cleared) but now Im worried about our flight back. Given she has no status, I'm worried about irregular opps, she won't be eligible for upgrades, fee for economy plus. Etc.

Anything I can do? Feels like a really silly system! I tottally get why people might want to break their itineraries apart to increase the odds of one person getting the upgrade but the system doesn't make it at all clear that you are about to separate you itineraries!

There is no way to fix this once it's been done. Upgrades are the least of your concern. You're right, in case of irrops, your life will become a lot harder. I had a case where my record was involuntarily split between myself and my companion, then we had irrops, and I was put on a priority flight a few hours later, and she was left to fend for herself with no help whatsoever. It took hours or argumentation with what used to be the 1k desk and ground staff to get them to take away my priority treatment and let us both stay together at our origin overnight then fly home together the next day. Incredibly stressful, totally unnecessary.

Wow. What a bad system.... I really want to remain loyal to United but they just keep making it harder and harder.

Its really amazing. Its almost as though United doesn't care about customers anymore at all. I've been gold for almost ten years straight...going out of my way schedule wise or paying a bit more to do it....not any more. This really feels like the last straw to me.

I really wish someone at United would google the term "life time customer value" - its a concept they've lost.....

The annoying part is I never wanted to split them. The mobile app doesn't make it clear at all thats what you are doing. Can't believe they would give customers such a bad experience so they could save a few thousand dollars in development.

Lately, I've been booking two 1-way tickets. Almost always these days, the two 1-ways are the same price as a round trip...Even advance fares booked into S, T, L, etc.

The only downside is that it's double the change fee if you need to change both the outbound and return, but the benefits far outweigh for me:

1. 2X credit for the united.com club.

2. If I have a companion, no worry on the return if the outbound is split.

3. If we I have irrops on the outbound, no worry about SHARES canceling my return.

Also note, I've never had issues with TSA Pre-Check not working because of 1-ways either.

Nope. Welcome to this silly ex-Continental system.

I wouldn't count on it.

always buy one-ways for exactly this reason.

I too have been buying one way tickets when I have companions to worry about, BUT in the case you need to change your plans now the problem is you have twice the change fees to deal with 2 fees @ $200 each x 2 pax. When booking a RT you can change both the outbound and inbound by only paying one change fee, but no so if you book two one ways.

Normally I take this risk but it still irks me that UA would be able to extract $400 per ticket from me if I have to make changes; in many cases this exceeds the amount of the ticket so one would just have to "throw it away".

This whole issue is the biggest joke ever. It also proves at the legnth we go to show our loyalty or stupidity to United. I blame myself for still giving them business. This thread is similar to the other one about the auto splitting of the PNR. I too hate to fly with companions, as each time it's a mess on the return. I have been upgraded on the return just to spend hours calling in to try and get my companion upgraded. Each agent has a different story, and a different set of rules. Most of the time after several agents and and hour of time I find someone willing to make the upgrade. UA needs to either fix the system (hopefully by junking it) or flat out tell us companions don't get the same status, so fly elsewhere if its that important...They say your companion get the same status, but it almost never is.. I keep thinking one day the problem will be fixed, but we are over a year now and still feel the effects of SHARES.

Excellent points. I've been booking more flights with miles lately, where there is no penalty for 1 way vs round trip, and it's great to know that when one segment is destroyed by SHARES, the other segment is not affected.