cricketer

I learned something new today which may already be both obvious and known, but I hadn't thought through. 4 of us are flying to LAS - 2 1K's and 2 GM's now that the Cricketer Jr's have lost their status.

It was showing F9R5 on the outbound and F9R2 on the return, so I figured what the heck, let's split the PNR's and perhaps we'll all get about as meaningless an upgrade as exists in the system.

Was surprised this morning when Mrs Cricketer's PNR got the CPU and mine didn't. It's now F4R0 on the outbound. I was wondering why she cleared ahead of me, with no respect shown for my MM status (sob) - then I realized that when the PNR's were split, she stayed on the original record, and I'm on the new one, which presumably sent me to the bottom of the 1K queue. Good to know for the future, assuming that is indeed the explanation.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

MM status does not go into the equation in any upgrade scenario.

Kacee

Except the one where you're pounding on the counter after being denied the upgrade

IAH-OIL-TRASH

That equation is MM+DYKWIA=E+

cricketer

Well aware, hence the "(sob)" - more the amusement that my wife, who has the 1K benefit because of my MM and hasn't stepped on a plane in about a year, got upgraded first. I'm sure that scenario is popular with others in the upgrade queue.

cyclogenesis

Hey all,
"Companions on different PNRs can be added at gate"

can they also be added in the United Club by an agent there?

BZRORG

Yes if the the agent is willing to do so

aacharya

Yes. I prefer to do it at check-in of bags, however. You get that extra hour or so over any possible others.

eeflyer

So I have kind of a weird situation and I'm not sure what the correct protocol was.

Two family members are booked on the same itinerary, one is silver. On the way out, PNR gets split. Silver gets upgrade, declines to remain with other passenger. On the way back, silver gets upgrade again(lucky, right? ). However, there was still two more seats in F. Since boarding had already begun, the silver asks the agent assisting the GA if the companion can be added to the list/upgraded since they thought companions are eligible. Agent declined and said the companion is not eligible.

For both the outbound and inbound, shouldn't the companion have been eligible for CPU as well? How would one ensure that the companion is added to the list?

WineCountryUA

A companion on the same PNR is eligible. On the outboard, when the PNR was split, the system will usually put the companion on the gate list.

On the return, the companion is considered to be a separate PNR. the agent would have to research the PNR history to see the companion had once been on the same PNR. This is an issue for the elite companion bag waiver also.

Some GAs will place an off-PNR companion on the gatelist. There is no formal (public) statement of this benefit. It was common for pmCO but not pmUA (which did not have the split PNR issue). So, this will vary from GA to GA but there is no policy you can point to if the GA does not.

findark

The companion should be eligible, but if they don't appear on the list they should be added at the airport check-in counter. During boarding is a rather poor time to try to get a GA to do something complicated to help you.

eeflyer

Thanks to both of you for the replies. They did have issues with the check-in allowance, but I guess the check-in agent figured that out but not the CPU list. I'll have to ask if they remember if both were on the list for the outbound.

cur

bae and i. she regular member. i'm gold. same flight same fare same pnr, but i decided to split. stupid decision because i cleared easily 48hrs but she hasn't. i call premier desk and ask what up. apparently "she carries your status but for cpu they clear at airport only". if we were together i know 100% we both would have cleared. now, i dunno.

aacharya

Once you split, she's no longer anything linked to you and not entitled to CPUs, bags, BG2, etc. Not sure why you called the desk.

Though - Premier Desk is wrong - she will carry your UG status only at the airport now when you ask to add her to the list.

cur

i called the desk because i never split a res before and never been cpu'able with a companion before


what you are saying is exactly what the premier desk stated: she carries my status at airport only.

so would it be beneficial to show up to the airport 23hours before to check in? could they add her to list at that time?

she doesn't get 2 free checked bags? so if we arrive at airport with 4 bags, they will say "no you only get 2"? what if they look up pnr history? this was booked as one res before i decided to split. i thought t+c say anyone travelling with (not necessarily on same pnr) gets benefits of companion.

bummer, guess i'll be paying for my moscow mules this flight. but at least bae will be happy

so in other words, splitting only makes sense if all you care about it scoring at least one upgraded seat.