chinesescouse

I think you're guess is as good as anyone's. I doubt United understands how that works as well. I've spoken to 2 reps on the phone and both gave a difference answer. After splitting the res, 1st rep said that only I would potentially be on the upgrade list (UA Gold), which is logical. If I declined to split the res then we're declining to be upgraded.

2nd rep said that if I declined to split the res, hence we're were both on the record locator, we'd both be picked up on the upgrade list.

Trip report:
Outbound: Upgraded to First. But that was before separate the record locators. First flt on Fri to DCA. Don't know the usual loads, but seemed somewhat full.
Inbound: No upgrade. Separate record locators. Full and oversold flight in F and Y.

kiam

It wasn't clear to me if you split at check-in (be it OLIC or airport) OR you split on your own (be it via website or call an agent). Each method will yield totally different results. The latter will be treated as if you book two separate bookings from the beginning meaning no companion tied to your booking whatsoever.

lulubell

Over the years we've made fellow passengers happy in the same way since we travel as a family but differnt status levels ( 1K,1 gold 2 silver) so we end up giving up and sitting in coach to be together. LOL

flavorflav

To avoid any accidental or unwitting auto-split of a PNR on a return trip, I now book all my trips as separate one-ways. Makes no difference in price (I travel 99 percent domestically) and removes the chance for many of the headaches others have written about here.

Of course, that means twice as much babysitting of seat assignments, schedule changes, etc. Worth it to me.

To complicate matters further, when it's three of us traveling - me (1P), Mrs. Flavorflav (*S on US) and Master Flavorflav (2P) - I book my wife and I on one PNR and my son by himself on another PNR. Laborious but it maximizes our chances for all three of us to go up front should space be available. All three of us clear more often than you might think. And no, Master Flavorflav never sits by himself. Having his own PNR is nothing more than a strategy to grab the CPU. If just one or two of the three-person party gets the upgrade, usually Mrs. Flavorflav goes up front while Master Flavorflav and I sit in the back.

So we have some round trips where there are four PNRs for three people. The lengths we go to to master the system...

SeaRaptor

While I am impressed by your perseverance, it is patently ridiculous that the reservation system is so bizarre and misunderstood by both passengers and agents that we have to play these kinds of games just to keep seat assignments.

UA-NYC

Just be glad (I'm guessing) you don't fly to/from EWR, as what your doing would cause you severe financial pains with that airport

Joshua

One benefit of this is you can "earn" $5 in your TravelBank for each one-way trip if you join the united.com club.

Not that it's done me any good, since I booked a ticket with $50 in my TravelBank; United charged my credit card for the $50 a week later and, half a year later, has yet to give me my TravelBank funds back.

Yet another companion trip; myself 1K, Mrs Joshua a Gold, and no upgrade cleared. Bargain F inventory is 5 seats out of a 20 seat cabin. Called up to the split the record, as usual. We'll probably both clear independently.

I'd be less aggravated about this if we still got an RPU every 10k flown miles, but RPUs are pretty precious nowadays.

Flying Machine

So if a 1K and a 1P are traveling together, would you create 1 PNR or Separate PNR's for each PAX? My school of thought, isnt it better to have 1 PNR so both PAX clear at the 1K window for UDU?

adastra

In the end, I got my companion added back to the upgrade standby list at the airport, and she magically cleared for both flights due to last-minute no-shows. But what a headache! The DCA club agents said they'd seen this happen before, and had no advice on how to prevent a companion from being randomly lost at check-in.

Say Vandelay

FWIW on a recent return flight with a companion (after the reservation was split), we were both added to the upgrade list automatically and next to each other at checkin/T-24. It was showing R=0 until that point, so I don't know if we would have cleared at the Gold window as we did on the outbound.

Boraxo

At risk of cross posting I thought I'd add this nugget:

Last week I did an online checkin and did NOT request an upgrade but my reservation record was split into 3 records for 4 family members. Apparently my 3-year old was assigned as my "companion" for CPU and Mrs. B and my 6-year old got split into another record. When I arrived at SFO, I told the CSR that I did not want to be upgraded, so he took me off the list. I guess he did not think it necessary to take my 3-year old off the list because she was paged at the gate for an F upgrade (which I declined on her behalf). As she does not have an MP card, I gather she must have leapfrogged a few elites with my 1K status

cjgibson

My partner and I have had a reservation get split at check-in. Here's our experiences with this...

What worked correctly - my partner was added to the upgrade standby list, his boarding pass says "Premier Access", his boarding group is 3, and he was not charged for 1st bag

What's not working correctly - on the return trip my partner was not cleared at T-24 into F even though I was and the F cabin is still F5 R5 RN5, he can't choose E+ seats without paying a fee

aacharya

What number is he or she on the UG list? Companions, once split, go a little "lower" on the list...

100% Green

What should I ask the check in attendant for specifically when checking in my no-status travel partner within 24 hours at the airport?

CLG

Ok, so what exactly do I need to do to get all 3 of us on the upgrade list?

I'm flying tomorrow (1K) with my wife (silver) and son (dirt) on UA1146 IAH-EWR. Right now it is holding back about 8 seats for sale / upgrade (R=8). I haven't checked in yet, because it seems every time I'm flying with a companion I do something wrong... and we never show up on the upgrade list.

Oh wise ones, how can I end up with all 3 of us on the list, but minimize the chances of only 1 of us getting upgraded?

Thanks!

CLG