When I was auto-checked in on the return, my companion was right behind me in the upgrade list, and we stayed there till takeoff.

The new companion upgrade policy seems to be working in the new system, at least insofar as it IS possible to get an upgrade for you and a companion at the window. This happened for my wife and I on a recent MCO-IAH leg at T-48, just as it should have.

However, as soon as we checked in at the airport, we discovered that we had two separate PNRs. Keep in mind that YYT is something of an out-station that does not have kiosks; we were checked in manually (the old-fashioned way) by airport staff, and were not offered the option to "opt-out" of the PNR auto-split. I suspect that there isn't a code for manual entry into SHARES to bypass the split, or it may be that if it is there it's not well known. We were able to add her to the companion list for the EWR-MCO leg of the itinerary and things worked as they were supposed to from that point, but the PNR split is frustrating. It has caused us to have to play "companion list roulette" for the return half of the itinerary.

I had hoped by avoiding advance check-in we would avoid the issue, but it seems that the check box that is offered via online or kiosk check-in is the only way around PNR auto-splits right now. I hope this is on their list of issues to address, because the system shouldn't be automatically splitting up families when one member has status and the rest do not.

My head is spinning from all the uncertainty regarding these companion upgrades. :)

But the bottomline seems to be that you probably won't get one, regardless of which system is used.

My wife and I (both 1Ks) had silver companions on our reservations these weekend, and we got a total of zero upgrades. Perhaps we were a little unlucky -- we were always in the "top 3" on the upgrade waitlist -- but it's obvious there are far more folks eligible for upgrades than there are seats, even in the high elite categories.

We were fortunate enough to both ride up front EWR-MCO due to an equipment swap (pmCO 752 -> pmCO 753 = 8 more seats up front), but I think that was because we were transiting through a leisure destination on this particular itinerary.

Were you able to successfully "opt-out" of the PNR auto-split at check-in?

This is my main concern with the system as it stands right now. I'm happy to have an assigned seat in E+, as long as I can sit next to my wife. My blood pressure only goes up when the seat assignments I booked get messed with because SHARES has split me on to a new reservation without my permission and I'm getting upgrades, leaving her in the back of the bus by herself. As long as I have the ability to tell SHARES "do not split me off of this reservation just to get upgrades", I can deal with it.

We did the split -- not that it helped, though. It put the 1Ks on the top of the upgrade list and the silvers on the bottom, with nobody ever clearing.

There did seem to be a way to "opt out" though at the online check-in point.

BTW, when you're doing all the spliting, keep an eye on your seat assignments. On one segment we had yesterday, some members of my party got stuck in the back of an RJ, while the rest had seats up front. I'm guessing it was an equipment change: the gate agent, other than complaining about the CO computer system, had no other explanation.

"Eligible" is a YMMV situation depending on the flight - plenty of kettles who aren't "eligible" for F, yet they end up there due to TOD pricing ;)

But there's not supposed to be "TOD" to the general public if there are "too many" elites waiting for upgrades, right? And I never received any offers from UA to buy upgrades on these flights.

As I said, though, the whole thing is very "black box" where your odds of securing a complimentary upgrade -- especially for your companion -- are low these days. I certainly won't be buying any UA tickets on the theory that there will be any upgrades available.

Just did a R/T SFO-ORD. On the outbound I split the itinerary to allow an upgrade and elected to have my son as a companion upgrade. On the return my son was added to the upgrade list automatically when I checked in at the airport, with what appears to be my status (unless GMs are in the upper 1.3rd of an upgrade list ORD-SFO).

Companion Upgrade when 1K Traveling Award Tix
 

A different scenario then I've seen in this thread.

My wife, daughter and I are traveling BOS-LAX-HNL (with stopover) roundtrip on FC award tickets. My daughter asked a friend along and I purchased (on my United Account using Presidential Plus CC) the ticket (on a different PNR) and applied 2 RPU's for LAX-HNL and HNL-BOS successfully.

My question - for BOS-LAX can (or should) I attempt to merge the PNRs (Award Tickets/Revenue Ticket) for a possible Complimentary Upgrade based on my status? or is that even possible to merge the two PNRs?

I just fell victim to this
 

I should have checked here before our outbound flight. No EUA upgrade on the outbound flight and due to system language prompting a split PNR, this was chosen...

oops! The return flight has quite a few seats in F and I was expecting my upgrade notification today (48 hours). I got it...my companion did not.

After calling and discussing with a representative, I am now back in E+ and should fall on the day of departure list...hopefully!

Here is my question: Since I am Gold, is my understanding correct that this is the last tier to upgrade prior to day of departure? So even though I am back in E+, I 'could' be at the top of the list or at least above any silver premiers? As in, i am really not losing anything unless the F seats sell-out/upgrade?

I was able to. I am 1P, and my wife is 2P. When we checked in for the first/outbound flight (5/17), I elected to not split PNR / be added to the airport upgrade list for all passengers. I also elected to not auto-checkin for the return flight. Our PNR was not split, and our names didn't appear on the airport upgrade list (via mobile site).

On checking in for the return flight, there was no prompt about upgrades. Our names didn't show up on airport upgrade list.

Our luggage however didn't make it :P I blame the loaders as they put it on the plane next to us.

It is not possible to merger separate PNRs even if the itin were identical. Additionally it is not possible to have a single PNR when passenger itins are different -- including different ticket type, different fare classes or different routing.

So this is a no for multiple reasons.

Travelled HNL-LAX-ORD-DCA / PHL-ORD-LAX-HNL a few weeks ago with a friend (no status) on the same PNR. We managed to get one upgrade (48 hr prior) on the LAX-ORD red-eye. Blanks on all other segments. Name did not appear on the upgrade list at the gate. Now I see why. This is so confusing.

WineCountryUA - That's what I thought - no merge of Award and Paid PNR.

Still not sure regarding language on UA Mileage Plus - can you request Companion Upgrade for a paid PNR while the status holder (Me) is traveling on Mileage Award Tix?

An interesting twist. Will not be able to do this in advance since on separate PNRs. My guess is you can request at the gate but don't remember any postings on this.

Thanks for confirming that it is possible to do this via online check-in. That will have to be our default method for now.

I generally opt out of the auto check-in for the return, I just will need to learn to look for the other option. At what point does it appear in the check-in process?

This is a serious bug, IMHO.

A couple of days ago, when flying in already-upgraded (via RPU) tickets, my wife and I were asked at check-in if we wanted to split the itin so I could go on the upgrade waitlist. Huh? We said "no."

Now, checking in for the return, the site offered to sell us an upgrade, which we declined. Now we're not on the CPU list, either, for either one of our flights. :confused: :mad:

One of the flights looks like it will be oversold and wasn't going to be a shot for CPU, but the other is still R2 and only has 7 or 8 pax on the list, so we'd probably have a good shot--but by the time we get to the airport to deal with it (which is what reservations claims is the only thing to do), it probably won't look so good.

Why is CO's system so broken? I had it do this to me pre-3/3 several times, and all the agents insisted I was on the list when I wasn't (and had silvers clear at the gate while I got nada). PMUA's upgrades, although experiencing an occasional glitch, never had all this "trust us, you're on the list" crap.

Here's how I understand it:

IF YOU SPLIT UP:

1. With a companion on your reservation, you can be upgraded at the window.
2. If you fail to earn an upgrade at the window, you will be offered the opportunity to split your PNRs during check-in.
3. If you split your PNRs, the elite passenger will go on the upgrade standby list. The non-elite passenger will not.
4. In order to put the non-elite passenger on the upgrade list, you have to have someone at the airport manually put them on the list.
5. For all subsequent legs of travel that day, you will automatically appear on the upgrade standby list, but your companion will not. They must be manually added to the upgrade standby list for each flight separately.
6. For the return portion of the itinerary, you are already on separate PNRs, and must check-in separately. Any baggage allowances extended to your companion by having originally been on the same reservation with you are lost (though I did have a ISM override this for me in Houston, be aware that it will happen). You will continue to appear on upgrade lists (and may have already snagged upgrades at the window), but your companion will still have to be added on to the list for each flight separately.

IF YOU DO NOT SPLIT UP:

1. With a companion on your reservation, you can be upgraded at the window.
2. If you fail to earn an upgrade at the window, you will be offered the opportunity to split your PNRs during check-in.
3. If you DO NOT split your PNRs, neither passenger will appear on the upgrade standby list for the remainder of that day's itinerary.
4. For the return portion of the itinerary, you are both still eligible to be upgraded together at the window.
5. Since you have already told the system that you do not wish to be split-up, you will not be offered the choice to do so for the return. Subsequently, if you do not get upgraded at the window, neither you nor your companion will not appear on the upgrade standby lists, same as the outbound leg of your itinerary.
6. Since your companion is still on a PNR with an elite member, you will both receive all baggage allowances as appropriate.

Essentially, when traveling with a companion, if you get upgraded at the window, you're golden. If you do not, you have a choice to make: stick together and ride in back, or split up and take your chances (you during the CPU sweeps, them on the companion upgrade list at the airport).

Obviously, there are some kinks to work out when using instruments (and presumably cash+miles) to upgrade.

Normal to split mid-trip?
 

On this same line of thought (sorry, I didn't see any thing similar posted earlier) is it normal to have the record split mid-trip? My wife has my 1K status and she was traveling with our 4 year old little girl. The outbound work brilliantly (or at least like I thought it should) and they both upgraded at T-96hours. But then a few days later when my wife was notified of upgrade for the return flight she logged in and the system had split the record and asked if she wanted it combined? Not knowing any different and paranoid that our 4 year old girl would get "separated" from her she of course answered yes. Then when she went to choose seats she was in 1st and our 4 year old was sitting alone in economy.

Obviously she was not real happy with that. I had to call and after 40 minutes on the phone with a brick & mortar agent in Houston on the 1K desk she said I have no options other than put my wife back in economy or pay 20,000 miles for the upgrade for the 4 year old.

So apparently this record splitting stuff is "normal" according to the thread, but mid-trip after the outbound has been completed?? And why on earth would the airline allow a 4 year old (or really, anyone under 13 or 12 or what not) get put on their own locator away from their parent. We don't necessarily need a complimentary upgrade, but we sure as hell don't want our 4 year old (even as wonderful and polite and quiet as she is) traveling in a different part of the airplane from her parents. This just seems really ludicrous.

Good luck with this.

IME, the agent will either lie and say 'Oh, your companion is on the list. It just doesn't show up on the screen' or 'Sorry, only Global Services members are eligible for companion upgrades'--> said by a (needless to say, PMCO) "customer service" agent at IAH.

We had hit-or-miss experiences with this on a recent trip YYT-EWR-MCO-IAH with a return of IAH-TPA-EWR-YYT.

On the outbound, in Newark, we stopped by a customer service desk and asked to put my wife on the companion list for our flight to MCO. The agent knew exactly what we wanted to do, but the code in SHARES had changed and it took her a few minutes and a phone call to figure it out. Once she did, my wife appeared on the list as she should have.

We had already obtained upgrades on the MCO-IAH leg at the T-48 window.

On the return, in Houston, the GA was trying to get her added, but the system kept rejecting her. I was asked several times if she was traveling on a reward ticket; neither of us were. That GA had to step away to board the plane, but thankfully called over some help before doing so and I watched a different person struggle to get the system to accept her on the list as a companion. The new GA also asked if she was on a reward ticket; same answer, obviously. Eventually, there were more seats in first than people on the list, so she forced the upgrade somehow and handed me a new boarding pass for my wife. I never did discern what the issue was. I think perhaps we cut this one a little close -- the flight had a 0745 departure and we were running a little late -- and perhaps there is some kind of time cutoff for adding people to the upgrade standby list. Not sure. They were up to boarding group 4 by the time I got the new BP.

In Tampa, we stopped and inquired of the first GA we saw and it took her about 40 seconds to add my wife to the list. Her name appeared and she ultimately snagged an upgrade.

For the last leg in Newark, we got to the gate an hour early with one seat open, and two people already on the list. I asked for my wife to be added, but the GA had just processed the last upgrade and told us not to bother. We shrugged and went to grab some dinner. We regretted this decision later, as there was a no-show in first -- the GA came on the plane and snagged the guy out of E+ and moved him up front -- and we had to VDB eight people to get under the weight restrictions in order to leave EWR. Two people in the small first cabin (only 6 seats) took the VDB vouchers, leaving plenty of seats. The moral here is: don't let someone dissuade you from putting your companion on the list. You never know what might happen.

All told, we rode up front together on four of five possible legs on the trip, only missing one upgrade together (EWR-YYT). The first outbound leg (YYT-EWR) was operated by an E145, so nothing to miss out on there. Only one of those four upgrades came at the window; the other three came at the airport.

UA makes it abundantly clear that if you and your companion don't clear at your window, none OR one OR both of you will clear at the gate. No guarantees, no way of predicting what will happen. That's how the system works.

If your daughter were to be sitting by herself in Y, it would only be because you wife elected to take the upgrade and leave your child sitting by herself. It's your choice, so don't put it on the airline.

I fly often with Toddler Flavorflav and we deal with the same issue - I'm sympathetic to your cause. But if I clear the upgrade and my child doesn't, then I turn down the upgrade and both of us fly in Y. Simple.

As for young kids on their own PNR, plenty of people do it to maximize upgrade chances or for other purposes. I understand what I am getting into. Example: My wife, son and I are flying together. I am 1P, my wife is *S on US, and my son is 2P.

Together on one PNR, there is zero chance of being upgraded. By herself on her own PNR, my US *S wife has zero chance of being upgraded. But if my wife and I are on one PNR, then we have a chance of being upgraded and if my son is on his own PNR, he has a (smaller) chance of being upgraded. Sometimes we hit the jackpot and all go up front, but more frequently just I clear the upgrade, which means my wife goes up front while I sit in Y with my son.

In short, our upgrade strategy relies on a 4-year-old being able to be on his own PNR.

EDIT: I rang United and it turns out no other 1Ks cleared at the window last night, either. Unfortunately, this companion upgrading mess means it's even more painful when the CPU process is unpredictable, since I'm best off right now leaving our PNR un-split in the hope we succeed in a future CPU sweep.

I'm a Premier 1K and Mrs Joshua is a Premier Gold. Booked on UA 651 on Thursday 6/7 on a 757-200, which departs at 8:41 PM CDT. Flight has shown A9/R7/RN7 (and think it was R8/RN8 a few weeks ago).

No upgrade cleared at the 96 hour 1K window last night.

Inventory is A9/R6/RN6 now, with 16 seats out of 24 total unassigned. Can't check mobile.united.com yet to see how much of the upgrade list has cleared.

I don't understand how the new upgrade process works. The website claims my companion clears with the same priority I have. Did 2 seats not open for 1Ks at the 96 hour window? Or do I need to wait until my wife's window opens up at 48 hours? Or are we just better off splitting, in general?

Call the 1K desk. My husband and I were waitlisted for an upgrade from NRT to IAD using a systemwide upgrade. A couple of days before the flight the upgrades had not gone through but the inventory went from R0/RN0 to R3/RN3. My husband called the 1K desk and we were upgraded. We were also told that the upgrade should have gone through automatically.

I called the number on the back of my card. Is there still a dedicated 1K desk? The agents I talk to nowadays seem like they're oriented towards serving all Premiers. For example, the agent I spoke with today was unsure what the companion upgrade policy was, and put me on hold while he checked.

They are just following company policy in this respect. All elites are equal, all elites provide the same amount of revenue/profit for the airline, and of course, all elites have to fly CO, since there's no competition. Oops.

Dave

Somewhere around here, UA Insider posted that everyone dials the same number now, but if you are a 1K the system will recognize that when you input your MP number and route you accordingly.

The numbers are actually different, but they get routed to the same IVR, which presumably routes people to different staff based on MP #. That is, if it recognizes the # (I cannot get mine to do so via voice and have to key it in every time--a pain given the alpha chars but that's another debate)... and even then, you get someone who answers "Premier Line" and seems to have no clue about 1K policies ("No, you have to have W or higher to use that GPU on a domestic flight...").

I had the exac same scenario as you describe, and did not receive any CPU's. Such a cluster F for something so logically simple...

-CLG

Didn't clear last night at the Premier Platinum window. Inventory is still A9/R6/RN6. mobile.united.com reveals 13 seats booked out of 24. 15 seats out of 24 unassigned, which leads me to believe that one Plat cleared.

At this point, I think I'm best of splitting and hoping that being a 1K on my own PNR can net at least one upgrade, and hope Mrs Joshua's upgrade clears tonight at the Gold window.

This new system is undesirable.

I split the records yesterday morning.

My upgrade cleared four minutes past T-48, which was last night.

Mrs Joshua's upgrade did not clear (and T-48 was her Gold window).

I guess companion upgrades are a thing of the past. ORD-SAN on a 757 is a pretty easy flight to upgrade on, or used to be. There's not much point to having 1K priority for your companion if United refuses to ever open up more than 1 seat during CPU sweeps.

My partner and I started flying united instead of Delta due to the notion that he'll be upgraded based on my 1k status - well, that has never happened, and we've always had to split our reservation 24 hours prior to departure. luckily, he's been upgraded a couple of times due to his gold status....and I have been able to use RPU's for his segments which have all cleared immediately so far....hopefully, United will clarify what their real policy is since what's written on the website is clearly not happening

Mrs Joshua just cleared her upgrade at the T-24 window (as a Premier Gold). At check-in (around T-26) she was on the standby list at #4 with 7 seats open.

The upgrade list is now 3 people long at T-23:45 with 2 seats open.

The seat next to me was open, so we got to sit together.

The buy-up offer for her was around $380 (H-up would have been about $480) at check-in.

Essentially, my wife cleared as a Premier Gold during a CPU sweep around the Premier Silver window. As a companion of a 1K, she did not clear at any window, including the 1K and Platinum windows.

There's no point to companion upgrades if United never opens up more than 1 seat at a time during CPU sweeps. United needs to decide if this is a benefit they want to offer, and be honest about what they're offering.

EDIT: Her ERJ leg is in Boarding Group 2 (despite being in Boarding Group 1 for the upgraded flight). Hope the gate agent lets us board together. We got kicked out of our row 12seats for unknown reasons (FAM? the flight doesn't leave for 21 hours? A 1K agent confirmed we were moved, but couldn't tell me why) and are now stuck in row 17. United likes to keep things interesting.

Agreed. PMUA, I was nearly 100% on companion upgrades, even hub-to-hub. Post-3/3, I am 0%. If they don't want to really offer them, fine--then just say so.


I can't imagine a FAM is going to be all the way back in row 12 on an E145. Probably just more IT glitches. :(

I kind of understand it on an instrument upgrade, but why should a spouse get a CPU with equal or higher priority than a bona-fide premier of higher status.

Flying FLL-EWR this Saturday. The flight is showing R6 and my dad was upgraded this morning as a Gold. I am a Gold and my mom is a silver - we are on the same reservation. I was not upgraded this morning, and I think it's because the system looks to the lowest elite level in the reservation. I called UA and told them to take out my mom's frequent flyer number - do you think this will solve the problem? I am also considered about the system "remembering" that my mom is my companion once the system splits our reservation, which it seems to do automatically at check-in.

By splitting up the PNRs, there's no way to know now if you would have been upgraded together. I suspect it would have happened, but it sounds as if it would have happened later than you might have preferred.

I agree that inventory management is stingy and that people are not regularly clearing CPUs at their appropriate windows as they are supposed to. It seems to be regularly happening 24 hours or more later than it should. My wife (no status) and I (Gold) cleared together on a single leg of a three leg outbound trip late last month at the correct window, but did not clear any other legs together in advance of the airport.

The stated benefit is being delivered, it's simply not being delivered consistently or often. I think it behooves those of us trying to use it to raise that issue with UA management and customer service as a failing of the merged reservation system they need to correct. Failing that, they need to simply stop offering it and generating all of this confusion and consternation. That isn't my first choice, but it is better than scattering families all over the airplane IMHO.

My son (21 months old) and I were upgraded last week DEN-GRR a day ahead of the Gold CPU window. This was a Friday AM flight that had 11/12 F seats filled with upgraders (and based on seeing 1 name on the UG list on my mobile phone - 1 Y/B instant upgrader).

The issue with this is that the FT crowd tends to fly on elite heavy routes at busy times. We don't have a good set of data to determine what UA is doing. It is true that if they only open 1 seat at a time at the windows, companions will have a tough time getting upgraded, but it all depends on flight loads.

It's the PMCO philosophy vs. PMUA basically, at least when it comes to day-of travel

While I think that's part of it, I know I've run into problems on more elite-thin routes on off-peak dates/times, too--problems I never ran into under the PMUA system, and from what I understand, problems PMCO flyers are also unaccustomed to. I've relegated myself to only doing companion upgrades via instrument or booked as a saver F award.

Traveling individually, I've also missed upgrades on similar routes to what I did under PMUA UDUs (SFO-IAD, DEN-IAD, for example), but on dates/times which used to be a slam-dunk on PMUA. On others, I've used RPUs on flights I'd have waited out for UDU before, and come the gate, have realized what a good decision that was when the upgrade list was 50+ long and F was apparently full 24+ hours out.