jsloan

CMK10

While you will be able to at check in, my advice with Ultra Long Haul segments is to bite the bullet and pay for it up front. I wouldn't want to risk only middles or worse yet, nothing at all being open at check in. This is what I typically do on such flights.

gloobnib

Hoping for a quick answer as my flight leaves in 10 hours! - I am United Silver (status match from Marriott) and I have been told conflicting information on the free bags. I am flying IND-SFO-HNL and have 3 people on the same PNR. I have been told by one person that everyone on the PNR gets a free first checked bag up to 40 lbs. I was told by someone else on the premier line that 'free companion checked bags' only applies to the first companion, not all companions. Which is it? The answer will likely determine if I bring along our (nice) snorkel gear or if we rent (relatively crappy) gear.

In case it matters: I booked it through Singapore (transfer from Amex MR), but I have no status with Singapore. I am Delta Diamond, but doubt that helps here. The only premium CCs I carry are the US Bank Altitude and the Citi Prestige; don't think any of those help. Also top-tier with Marriott/SPG, Hilton and Hyatt, but don't think that helps either.

TIA for guidance!

ETA: This is from their website, which sure seems to support the idea that everyone on the same PNR gets the allowance (up to 9 people). But again, it directly contradicts what the agent told me on the phone. She was very emphatic.

jsloan

Really? Silver only gets one free bag (it would be 50 lbs, not 40), so at most your savings would be $25. I have a hard time believing that you would be able to rent much of anything for $25.

Having said that, the answer is that it applies to your entire party:

gloobnib

Thanks for the quick reply! That makes me feels better.

FWIW, I left out that we are staying on 3 islands, so there are 3 inter-island trips as well as the RT bag fees on UA. The excess bag fees of $35 x 2 on UA and $25 x 3 on Hawaiian for that snorkel gear really adds up! You can rent crappy gear for about $40/week. That has the additional advantage of not having to lug that gear half way around the world.

jsloan

Happy to help, and yes that does make more sense. And, yes, I should have considered the return trip. Still, it's $25, not $35. $35 is the second bag fee, which isn't waived for Silver. Basically, you will get a total of three free pieces -- one each -- on United. If any of you have a second bag, it would be $35. (And, a third bag would be $200).

As for Hawaiian -- each of you should sign up for a free HawaiianMiles account, which will get you a discount on your bags to $15 for the first bag (per person) and $20 for any second bag.

Whatever decision you make, I hope this helps, and have a great trip.

WineCountryUA

That agent was confusing the credit card benefit (only 1 companion receive first bag waiver) with the Silver benefit (all companions on the PNR receive first bag waiver).

Note the waivers only apply when checking in for an UA operated flight,

gloobnib

Thanks everyone for the quick replies. We wound up renting snorkel equipment for $5 per person per day from Boss Frog's (x2 - my wife doesn't snokel) and were very happy with it; their gear was way better than the crappy stuff we'd rented several years ago at various Caribbean resort towns. I did sign all of us up for Hawaiian Air frequent flier accounts, but since they were booked on Delta points (which I have coming out of my ears due to work travel), they said they cannot apply our Hawaiian frequent flier numbers to the reservation. I checked later and the T&Cs do say that the only FF number attached to a PNR has to be the Hawaiian FF account. I was a little peeved, but finally just let it go and paid the $25 per bag for 2 bags and carried the others on. A minor inconvenience, but a total of $20 each leg wasn't worth the heartburn of trying to fight it further.

And yes, I eventually did figure out the UA rep was thinking the Silver companion upgrade benefit. Interestingly, there was a problem with *my* PNR (not the wife and daughter) and I was unable to check-in online or using the automated kiosks at the airport. We never did figure out what the problem was, but I suspect it was because the flight was booked by Singapore there was some sort of issue there. They had to get a supervisor involved, who contacted their help desk, and after about 15 minutes they were able to get me checked in, with the free bag allowance included. The interesting part is that they had to split my PNR off from my wife/daughter and they 'inherited' my silver status such that when we got to the gate they had both been upgraded to Economy Plus seats on the long-haul portion of the trip. And I hadn't! But after speaking with the agent, we got it 'fixed' so that I got upgraded as well. The same thing pretty much happened on the return trip, with the exception that I had to get a supervisor to waive the checked bag fees for my wife/daughter when we checked in for the HNL-ORD leg since we were now on separate PNRs. Certainly a one-off type of situation, but I'm not complaining!

Anyway, thanks again for the replies!

ewazak

New to Silver. Wife (general member) and I have several trips together this year. The first one was last month. At check-in, I was asked if I wanted to separate our reservations so I could get on CPU list. I said no.

Had I separated reservation A) would wife still have access to free E+ and free bag? B) if I got CPU, would she get one too (i know, I know, it's exceedingly rare for silver CPU)?

We have a trip coming up in 10 days so, HELP!

Thanks a ton

findark

If you split the PNR, you would both have the free bag on the outbound, but not necessarily on the return (would take manual override at the counter). Your wife would still have E+ access, however for the return you may need to call to have her seated in E+ with you (and this may get messy if you clear immediately). If you split, you are separately eligible for CPU so it is possible that you will clear and she will not (it's also possible that you both clear).

Generally speaking, Silver CPUs are extremely rare so unless you have a reason to believe that they will happen on your flight, it's not worth the hassle to split the PNR.

MTJTraveller

uppereastsider

Three years as a silver and I just got my third upgrade!

YOW EWR. Cleared at check in, there are still 8 FC seats and 0 on the list.

Prior to that, was upgraded on a 10pm IAD YYZ flight and on my first day as a silver three years ago, I got upgraded on LGA PBI

Katlor

I haven't expected to get any FC upgrades with United Silver but I have been pleasantly surprised. I've had three already in 2018. The most surprising one was getting an upgrade on a flight from LAS to LAX on a ticket purchased the day before. Least surprising was a flight from IAH to Acapulco. Even without upgrades, Economy Plus is always better than a regular coach seat, and sometimes (especially on the tiny jets) is roomier than first if they blocked a seat next to mine and it ends up empty.

uppereastsider

s0479

My experience from SMF - SFO - OGG - SFO - SMF - earlier this month much to my surprise as Silver (from Marriott match) I got upgraded on the SFO - OGG flight after check in, but only a couple hours after it. My mom, also a silver got an upgrade about 10 minutes before boarding. Very nice surprise, especially since it was a very cheap fare and a b'day trip! We also both got an upgrade SFO - SMF at the very last minute when we were already boarded - weird situation since it showed full, all checked in and I was 4th or 5th on list. That flight was about 25 minute flight time and no service but hey still nice surprise! :-) Wasn't to happy with a couple things that happened with my daughter on this trip, but United gave her $200 credit for the mistakes/problems. My mom and I sure had a nice trip though!