Not sure if this is relevant to your experiences, but the standard flow for fas in delivering the benefit is to use the phone and go through the purchase functions, then the system will comp when it sees 1K/GS at that seat.

So I don’t say anything about charge no charge just that yes I have payment on file. If they do wind up charging a card, you can send it in for refund afterward.

I also never save a card to my profile in advance, which helps be sure they’ll do it correctly.

So you're saying that the system automatically doesn't charge 1Ks even though it's entered as a BOB purchase-well that makes sense. Thanks.:tu:
My FA had no idea about the 1K/GS perk. I really believe that he'd never even heard about it. I haven't flown in Y in a while and they used to proactively ask me what I would like for my 1K food and drink.

How does the FA know the person siting next to you is your travel partner?

Out of at least 50 UA flights in main cabin this year, UA has never proactively offered, let alone acknowledged my status. For the most part, FAs do the least possible.

I have been charged by UA for complementary food/snack. I have also been given the stink eye from FAs after reminding them I should not be charged.

AS, on the other hand, gives elites (Gold and above?) Free chocolate, and without a fail, FAs thank elite pax for their business. It might not be much, just a piece of a chocolate, but the proactive acknowledgement goes a long way.

Alternatively, my status is acknowledged nearly 100% of the time - the few times I am not upgraded usually SFO-LAS LAS-SFO - I've never been given stink eye nor charged and have always encountered friendly FA's who go out of the way

After I saw your post, I went to my CC account to see if I was charged and, indeed I was. It's ridiculous that UA can't get their act together on this supposed "benefit". I've been immune to the degradation of service in the back because I've been buying F for so long.

I very, very rarely have had status acknowledged on a domestic route. Last week, a 1K colleague and I were flying HUB-HUB in F, sitting next to each other and the FA thanked him heartily for being a 1K when taking his drink order. I got a smile and "What can i get you to drink".. My colleague thought it was hilarious :D

"Enh. He's just a Global."

David

Were you in your assigned seat? If the seat map on their Link iphone is marked with you as GS or 1K there isn't really any way for the FA to charge you for the first drink or meal item. The Link comps it. It must not be showing your status for some reason.

During my pre-pandemic brief two year stint as a GS pax I as well never (well almost) got status acknowledged. I had posted about this multiple times here. Never got the Mercedes (or whatever vehicle) gate to gate shuttle run. Only once did I get walked through security to my gate at EZE as I was running late due to a late connection. Even CPUs were ridiculously rare. YMMV

Yes, they did charge my credit card and they didn't ask my name, so the seat must've been linked to me.
However, I have been having a lot of trouble with the UA App. For instance, 3 days ago, it showed me being UG'd at OLCI but, when I got to physical check-in, the agent said that I was back in my original emergency exit row seat, and that I'd never been UG'd. Also, the UA website has been misbehaving a lot lately, so much so that I don't book there any more (one of the worst things is that it logs me out all the time while I am trying to make a booking-but then, the App does that too).

I was thinking the same thing - how does someone get charged if they are in the assigned seat and mileage plus number in the profile when booking the ticket.

Regardless - from the UA website to mitigate issues: Before ordering, make sure your flight attendant knows that you’re a member with Premier 1K status, and show your digital MileagePlus membership card, available in the United app, or your Premier membership card or boarding pass.

I had a gate agent pull a DYKWHI (Dont you know who he is?) To a new (to me) GA With regard to me a couple weeks ago... Apparently I have a bit of a reputation that allegedly precedes me :-D
But as with almost everything, some flight attendants are really on top of things and some flight attendants are a little less attentive. .. My guess is that's a large part of the reason why they handheld devices were programmed to/should take care of it automatically.

When I'm riding in Y -- which thankfully isn't very often -- I appreciate the box as a corporate gesture but to be completely honest, I'll take a very genuine – – not scripted robotic - - "Thank you for your business" and a smile any day as a personal thanks from the frontline employee who I'm interacting with. And maybe I'm a bit like Pavlov's dog where when you do it every time (see also "my pleasure" at Chick-fil-A) It just isn't as meaningful, but perhaps that's a topic for a different thread

wow. did the FA mention the price or that there would be a charge? i do usually hear them mention that there will be a charge AND confirm the pax' name when making a sale.
on a recent flight in Y the FA handed me my drink. when my seatmate said "i'll have the same" to FA responded with "there'll be a charge for that, but beer and wine are free"

on another recent flight, I ordered my drink. FA seemed to know I was 1K, went to check it off in her mobile, looked confused and said "are you <common_name_of_opposite_gender>?" i said no, and showed her my boarding pass, since i had it out. she showed me what she was looking at - def my seat with a different name. so, there's some problems with the app for sure.

How about, I see you are a 1K, would you like a complementary BOB and/or a premium drink?

Heck, even the TSA agent wished me a happy (future) birthday the other day. UA has never said a thing in 60+ flights I have flown with the carrier this year. Delta, Alaska, the complete opposite, even for their respective Silver and MVP members (lowest tier). Customer service is not a strong point for UA, that's for sure.