My parents asked me to check in for them at T-24 to get E+ (they are Silver).
They are flying IST-FRA-IAD-ORD
IST-FRA is UA ticketed codeshare, TK operated
rest is all UA.


When I tried to checkin on the site it says it could not and I have to goto the airport. On the UA site, I tried to choose seats for FRA-IAD-ORD and it wont let me. It says I am already checked in. I then tried on the TK site, I can choose seats for IST-FRA with no issue. I called in to UA and they tell me its because I'm checked in on TK already.
I called TK to uncheckin and they said they cannot because it is UA operated. I told them it clearly is not and even gave to the TK flight number but he said he can't uncheckin. (perhaps because its UA ticketed under the UA Flight number). I tried calling UA again the second person said she doesnt see why that would matter but she still couldnt get the E+ seat. She forwarded me to the website helpdesk, they could not help either.

Has anyone encountered this situation before?
I've heard of similar issues before but you would think UA could assign a seat on 016 stock on a UA operated flight.

Interesting that every UA agent tried to tell me I was not within 24hr and I had to remind them of the timezone

Um, probably the right play here would have been (1) wait until 24 hrs before FRA-IAD; (2) select seats online; (3) check in with TK for first segment.

The "24 hrs in advance for E+" clock applies to each segment, doesn't it?

Someone at the airport can do this. Your folks might be able to ask UA's Twitter team to assign E+ seats for their FRA-IAD segment; that team has some similar departure-management style abilities to an airport agent.

The path of least resistance here is to wait until the TK flight has departed, then get UA to assign a seat (phone or online check in).

Well, a few hours before T-24 (before FRA-IAD), I tried to checkin thinking maybe it goes by first segment. I couldnt remember since its been a while since I had to deal with not being able to choose E+. That's when I got the error. I guess it did checkin me. Enough so that I could not choose seats from the reservations screen. At that point I decided to goto TK's site to at least get some seats there. Maybe that was a mistake.

I'll try twitter. I thought about calling in after TK has departed but wondered if UA customer service would question how I'm able to do that if I'm suppose to be on a plane. Also, I figure worst case, they can goto the UA counter at IST and get seats then possibly)

What a coincidence. I just came on here to ask a similar question. I'm planning on booking a UA flight with the first segment on Air Canada. I guess the answer for me, before I even ask the question, is to not check in on AC right away (the first flight will be a Dash 8 on a really short flight, so it's not like there's any benefit to early seat selection), then once I'm within 24 hours on the UA flight, select a E+ seat on ua.com, then check in?

I'm on hold with UA right now. the person said they are going to call TK on my behalf and uncheck me in but said "just to set your expectations, you may loose your TK seat assignment". I said I dont care as long as the long flight gets the E+ seat I want.

Thats why I never book multiple airlines on the same leg.

The 24 hour thing is 24 hours before the first segment of an itinerary. However I'm not sure how you're supposed to get E+ before showing up to the gate for the next flight with the first flight is on partner metal...rmadisonwi might have the right idea, though my problem is when partner metal is TATL or TPAC (which has been the case for me, though TATL I have a gifted RPU clear so no worries about E+ and for TPAC I'm waiting for a saver domestic F award to open up)

Not always; I had an itin started with partner flights recently where I could only check in at 24 hours out for each partner's segment (and eventually UA's). FWIW, this is the only time I've encountered that issue... but OS wouldn't check in my AC segment, and AC made me wait to T-24, and UA insisted the other carriers were where I should check in (as they were earlier in the itin), then no one could check in UA until T-24 before that UA segment.

The UA agent said that it is per segment. So the last segment, you can only choose E+ 24hrs

So I guess the lesson is to select the seats before checking in. I had thought that for E+ (as silver), you could only select the E+ during checking (versus at the reservations screen).

The consensus in prior FlyerTalk threads has been that E+ becomes selectable (either at 'view my res' or OLCI) 24 hrs prior to departure of each segment. I have no direct experience here.

As a silver last year and this year IME I have been able to select E+ for all segments at check-in for itineraries that are all UA metal. However I have had issues with getting E+ for companions at check-in and having to call in, even if they were on the same PNR. Of course, being a silver means my sample size is very small (in my case 3 with stops, particularly TPAC, and the rest being non-stop). Starting on partner metal has been a different story, as this thread seems to indicate.

Just to close this out, UAInsider contact me and was able to do the change. Like you suggested, the were able to use the "airport system" and basically split the reservation then made the assignments.

Hi folks,

I'm flying PRG->FRA->SFO tomorrow, with PRG->FRA on Lufthansa, and FRA->SFO on UA, all on UA-issued tickets. I'm a newly-minted lowly UA Silver (Gold after this trip, yay), and want to maximize my chances of getting an E+ seat for the FRA->SFO leg. How can I do this given that the first leg is on LH, and so I check in with them?

Can I just go to UA.com and pick an available E+ seat after checking in with LH at T-24?

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but this is my first time having the first leg be a codeshare since I got status.

Thanks!
Adam

Welcome to FT, and congratulations on your upcoming status change!

Based on a recent thread on the same topic (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...st-flight.html), checking in with LH and then attempting to select a seat on UA for the next flight may cause problems.

If you are not worried about checking in with LH at exactly T-24, then you will probably have better luck waiting until T-24 of your FRA-SFO flight. At that time, use UA.com ("view my reservation", not OLCI) to select an E+ seat for FRA-SFO. After that is done, then proceed to check in with LH for PRG-FRA.

(thanks mods for moving my query into the related thread)

OMG thank you so much - I *never* would have figured this out myself. I didn't see my flights on UA.com and had checked in with LH at T-24, but happily they have an un-checkin option on their site, so I did that, then went back to UA.com, searched for my record locator, and selected an E+ seat by editing my reservation, then back to LH.com and re-checked in, and now I have an e-boarding pass from LH that shows an E+ seat for FRA->SFO. Not counting that chicken until I'm luxuriating in my extra <=5 inches of legroom with no IFE or power (I just love the 747 fleet that flies the SFO<->FRA route), but it looks good!

Can't wait to be UA*G so this becomes a non-issue.

Thanks again!

Best regards,
Adam