:tu: The itinerary is purely domestic.

Can I buy 2 UA tickets on the same flight?
 

I have two reservations with UA - one included with Viking River Cruise (Economy+), one purchased on my own for Premium Economy. The reason I did that is because Viking charged $1900 extra for Premium while I can purchase one for $1700. I thought I can have hubby sit in the two Eco+ seats while I sit in Premium. But UA is cancelling my Viking seat and keeping the Premium (also keeping hubby's seat). I would rather cancel the Premium and hope for full refund since UA is the one that does not allow that. I have Gold status while hubby doesn't so I need to have Viking's to be in the same confirmation #.

Is it true that I cannot buy two seats on the same flight? I've seen people bought a second seat for their cello but I guess hubby is not allowed? TIA!

Pretty obvious that each passenger must be listed on a manifest. A cello is not a passenger. How was the husband going to get past TSA without a boarding pass with his name on it?

Viking's reservation has two seats. Hubby has his own ticket. He just needs to be in the same confirmation as mine so he can get economy+ seat. I hoping to keep my eco+ seat that is included with the Viking cruise so that hubby can have two seats while I sit in the separately purchased premium economy. I would have two boarding passes while hubby has one.

You can, in fact, book an extra seat (see thread). When I've done it, the reservation has the first name EXTRASEAT, and then my last name. You don't get miles accrual for it but, according to my reservation, it does get a baggage allowance.

I've only done it with a seat directly next to my booked seat. But in principle, it lets me choose a seat on the plane. In this case, could you call United and ask if you can book a premium economy seat as an extra seat under your name? That way, you keep your status associated with the Viking tickets so your husband gets better seats.

There are other people here who are more versed in buying extra seats than me whom I hope will fill in such details, but it is technically possible to buy an extra ticket for a passenger who either, for example, needs extra space for a medical condition (like having their arm in a brace), or is too large to fit in a normal seat, often euphemistically called a person of size. But that's not what you want to do, since you want to retain your ticket that comes with the cruise, presumably because it is less expensive than buying your ticket yourself.

On the other hand, you seem to be willing to spend a large extra amount to improve your seating. So, here's another idea: can you cancel both Viking-issued seats and purchase another Premium Economy for your husband? Might it make financial sense to do so?

This would be the most straightforward course of action, if Viking will let you do it and gives you a reasonable reduction in the price.

One potential challenge with the extraseat strategy is that I doubt you can buy a standalone extra seat. I could be wrong, but I'd think it is ordinarily linked to an actual flying person on the same reservation. That's why you need to ask an agent!

I just did this for an international flight on .bomb, and it appears to have worked (EXTRASEAT LANCELOT). A 1K agent, in fact, told me I could do it online this way.

In the same name or different cabins -- No, see [Consolidated] - Duplicated / double / impossible reservations -- What will UA do?

However, it is possible using the EXTRASEAT booking approach -- but not sure Viking will play ball with this

This will be a separate issue, you cannot have a personal booking in two cabins AND you and +1 cannot be on the same PNR/ticket if in separate cabins.

Viking would not change one of the passenger's name to ExtraSeat but will purchase an extra seat for us at $1599, while the economy ticket is ~$800. Since this is not cost effective for us, we canceled the premium economy that we purchased separately. Thank you everyone for your input!

Sorry it didn't work out with Viking. Thanks for letting us know the outcome. I hope you have a great trip!

I’ve read the wiki and the process looks straight forward. I want to book an extra seat for myself and a carry on kitty in a carrier. Other than entering EXTRASEAT for the name, does it matter what the other details like DOB are?

You do know that the cat carrier has to remain UNDER the seat (i would assume either seat if you buy two) with the door closed and you can't put the carrier ON the 2nd seat? As much as I would like that (being a cat lover, too) it would not be allowed.

Yes, this is correct. I have done this several times this calendar year for transatlantic flights. My reservation was under EXTRASEAT LANCELOT (i.e., use EXTRASEAT as the first name). Given that the carrying case is under the seat, I agree that it is much easier to travel with an extra seat to allow putting my own personal items under the seat. And for having room to lean over to check on the cat.

I would recommend choosing window-middle seats. The cat is under the window seat, so as far from foot traffic/excess stimulus as possible (there is already far too much stimulus).

Thanks that’s my thinking also. This is will be a transatlantic flight on a 767 and I am planning on getting seats on one of the dual seats side.

Getting the EXTRASEAT is the easy part - keeping poachers out of it, especially if it's a highly desirable location, will be the challenge. Window/middle combination is best, you can sit in the middle the physically block people from poaching the window, then spread out after take-off to take both seats. Unfortunately, I wish I could poo-poo the risk, but the very first time I booked one of these, I had to slide over and block a poacher who was seated in the very back of the cabin, but loudly declared "I'm just gonna sit right here!" - no help from the FAs, but the GA who knew I had the extra seat told her to get to the back and sit down in her assigned seat.