No more "through checking" / interlining of bags when connecting from BE
 

Heads up : Mrs. EX checked in at PHX this morning coming home. She had a BE itinerary to LAX and a separate itinerary Z fare LAX-NRT. Supervisor told her there is no way to through check bags any longer to their final destination since they are unable to combine BE ticket with "regular" ticket. She says United decided to stop this because they want to discourage the ever growing practice of purchasing cheap BE fares to get to the gateway in order to connect to an International flight. We have been doing this because the published fare from PHX is twice as much as the one from LAX. And of course we don't mind the BE restrictions for the 55 minute flight in a RJ. She said the EWR flights are full of people with the BE fares and an International connection.
The bright side is that we "know" the supervisor a little bit since the last time when we checked in under the same circumstances she requested that we check in online but without ticking the "check luggage" box in order to enable her to somehow override the system. So with a little bit of friendly begging she did it "one last time and never again". Otherwise she would have had to leave the terminal at LAX, pick up the heavy bags, schlepp them upstairs to check in again and enjoy TSA one more time. Doesn't bode well for future trips.

Good on UA for fixing this.

This is terrible. Did United notify its customers of this policy change before making it happen? No...

Not flyer friendly, at all! Hope you write in to United to complain.

Mind to elaborate? Curious.

Yeah, as far as I am concerned it is still "broken". Petty, really petty.

Can DL's or AA's basic economy tickets interline to UA?

Seems potentially like UA is cutting off the nose to spite the face.

Well, it does seem like what you're doing is circumventing the BE fare rules by seeking to get a (presumably free) checked bag on a BE fare by indirectly pairing it with an international fare with a free checked bag.

BTW, does it also prohibit this in reverse? I.e., if you travel NRT-LAX-PHX on a paired ticket, where the checked bag from NRT to LAX would be free - do they check it through to PHX even on a BE fare?

Really? Is it not obvious you were trying to circumvent the rules? C'mon man ... you can't be serious.

you mean the "rules" put in place to continue the race to the bottom? If UA is going to play the game , they obviously have to expect (and are prepared) to the escalation war that will follow , I am ready to drop loyalty to the brand as it is

Seperate tickets -- no. There is no interlining of bags between the majors on separate tickets -- BE or not.

Please see https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/30628457-post7.html

So United just plugged a loophole that people were taking advantage of. If what the OP has stated is true that they are saving 50% by buying BE to LAX, well then you really expecting to have your cake and eat it too?

OP is on separate tickets, so there is no connection and thus no misconnection. If she no shows for the onwards flight to NRT she is at UA's mercy.

AA will not check across its own separate tickets in any fare bucket, let alone BE. DL will check across its own tickets, but not originating with BE, e.g. OP's fact situation.

It all makes sense and even though people here would likely be OK paying for their bag to be checked through, that would mean reprogramming the entire system and potentially violating DOT's baggage fee rules in the process. My guess is that this was never intended by UA in the first place and, having run into it, the unintended loophole is closed.

It's not clear to me whether OP was seeking a free bag or paying for the bag. I'd be more troubled by the former.

Of course, if OP is not seeking the free bag check, why book BE in the first place? Just book the lowest non-BE fare and United should through-check the bags as before even with separate tickets (right - isn't that the practice?)