Family of 4, parents are platinum and gold, kids (13 and 16) are general members- we are all on same PNR. I understand if we want upgrades we need to call and have the PNR split. Am wondering if we should keep each child with a parent or split into 3 PNR's. Any advice?

Keep a child with each parent. It's possible all four of you might get upgraded.

Make sure to have seats arranged in a way like below. That way, no matter how people are upgraded, everyone has space. If only the PP is upgraded, the 13-year old can sit in the open middle seat on the other side, or stay where he/she is.

PP x 13 16 x PG

Did a search, but not sure if this has been addressed prior...

I will be traveling EWR-LAS next week, I am 1K and will have a general member on the same pnr.

I know that if I use miles to upgrade the GM on the return flight then the pnr will be split.

If I wait until the outbound CPU clears for both of us, then use miles to upgrade or waitlist the gm for the return,

Will the gm lose the outbound upgrade once the pnr is split?

No; assuming the GM has cleared CPU with you on the outbound, the GM keeps that upgrade even when split.

Sorry for another question on this topic, I'm trying to get the correct info.

4 people on same PNR. 1 (me) is 1K, the other 3 have no status.

Will I get my CPU 5 days in advance if I keep it this way? From this board, it seems that the answer is no, and I should split mine off. However, I just spoke to a UA rep on the phone, who told me that I should still get my CPU if I keep the PNR as it is. Is the rep wrong?

Also - if I do split the PNR, will my companions be booted out of E+?

Thanks for the help.

You WILL not get upgraded the way it is.

Split yourself and one person off. All the rest will stay in E+, but lose baggage waivers. But make sure to do something like this for seating:

ABC DEF

Put non-elites in A, C, and D. Put yourself in F. Split yourself and D off. If you get upgraded, everyone is pretty close, and comfortable. If someone sits in B, D and B can switch.

If D gets upgraded also, then A and C can decide what to do (stay as is, or switch with B).

You and that person can get upgraded and will get full baggage waivers (so you can check all bags for the whole group).

I do this a lot - as I also have Pre-Check. So I check bags while the rest go through security. Then I glide through TSA.

Thanks! This is really helpful - exactly what I needed!

Anytime. There are alternates, like placing other non-Elite in B between A and C, and you in D. That way, if nobody is upgraded, you're all in a row.

Or placing yourself in the middle seat, so if you are upgraded, A, C and D are comfortable and closer together (though I don't like this approach - bad outcome for you if not upgraded).

All depends on what you and your friends like to do on planes.

I am a 1K travelling with a non status wife on the same pnr in October.
In July I will obtain million mile status.

After I get the lifetime status, I was going to submit her as the lifetime companion and then split the pnr so we will have a better chance for upgrades.

Does that make sense?

How long will it take for her to get my status?

Yes, if you don't mind one of you upgrading only. (It can happen in some instances).

Check the MM thread for effective dates -but it won't take too long.

We are a family of four traveling on paid V class tickets to London Heathrow on Monday afternoon in economy class for vacation, using four Global Premier Upgrade certificates. When I last checked there were enough Business Class seats, but it is too early to check the online waitlist.

QUESTION: Should I split the itinerary or not?
We would like to either upgrade 0, 2, or all 4 people, so as not to leave one person alone.

I am 1K and currently my three United general family members appear to be benefiting from my 1K benefits (free 1st and 2nd bags, Economy Plus seating etc). From reading the forums I think I understand the two main risks with a split, namely : a) n (1..4) get upgraded leaving the rest behind in Economy Plus, b) n (1..4) get different flight re-routing in the event of issues, or c) no-one gets upgraded because 4 upgrades are not available. This was booked as one itinerary, although when I look at the receipt there are four eTicket numbers. Each family members general MileagePlus member number is on their ticket.

What am I not considering? I know I can also discuss this with the gate staff, but that will only work if my connecting incoming flight arrives on time giving me the opportunity to discuss hte international upgrades. Thanks

If you split the PNR on the outward leg, would that cause issues for the remaining GMs in E+ on either the outward or return legs, such as they loose their E+ seats assigned before the split? From reading threads appears this used to be an issue, but I'm less clear if it is still an ongoing issue today.

Also does it matter where/how you split: website, airport checkin, agent checkin, or 1K desk?

So I phoned 1K reservations and the agent told me that:
a) we would need to split the itinerary to get upgrades since there were less upgrades available than the number of people in our itinerary;
b) that splitting would not impact the already assigned GM E+ seats;
c) that as long as we were traveling together the GMs would keep their E+ seats (which means what I already suspected that during IRROPs they would not get E+ unless I was on the same plane);
d) and that she would recommend not splitting until we get to the airport, and having the agent do it, since we could then see whether splitting made any difference or not.

I'm UA Silver traveling SFO-EWR-SFO on the same PNR with my gf who's UA Gold. There are 8 available seats in F and 16 people on the upgrade list, not including us; Due to the PNR splitting issue with SHARES, we haven't checked in yet hoping for our upgrades to clear before getting to SFO. I'm headed to SFO 5 hours before our flight to meet up with someone in UA's Global F Lounge, and I don't want to screw up our PNR by checking in to get to the GFL.

What would you suggest I do to get to the GFL without splitting the PNR and keeping our chances of an upgrade?

More broadly, how can we increase our chances of upgrades without splitting, so we don't have to deal with separate PNRs on the return?

Finally, how likely is it that we'll get upgraded at T-6 if we haven't checked in, and as such don't appear on the upgrade standby list?

Note to Mods: I'm posting via the iPhone app and couldn't select Airline Programs or United MileagePlus; Please move this thread to the UA MP forum. Thanks!

Done! /JY1024, TravelBuzz co-moderator