Getting boarding passes for all segments?
 

When doing a MR on United, has anybody has the problem of not getting all boarding passes for all segments?

I'm talking about a same day return, and Easy Checkin will only give you boarding passes for the outbound segments and not for return segments.

The short turn-around time won't be enough to stand in line at a customer service counter. What do I do? Should I explain my situation to the GA for the first outbound flight of the day?:confused:

At the departure airport just explain what you're doing and they should be able to print out all of your BP's in the case of a same day run.

Next time, just book it as two one ways (should be the same price) so you have to different PNR's and e asy check in at home to get all boarding passes. I have done this before on US and UA and never had a problem.

Strange...I've never had a problem printing out the return BPs using OLCI when doing a MR. :confused:

If I do two one-ways, and my first itin is delayed and miss departure of the second itin, would I get free rebooking by UA or would they consider me to have skipped flight?


For example, if I book the two itineraries below as seperate one-way tickets, and the AAA-BBB is delayed and I miss departure for the return BBB-AAA, would I still get rerouted for free or would I be penalized?

Itinerary One: AAA-BBB
Itinerary Two: BBB-AAA

Since they were different tickets you'd probably technically be SOL, but in practice they should help you out. I would still purchase roundtrip tickets just to be on the safe side.

Diplomatico, this is my second MR and I'm also surprised it won't print all the BP's since my itin is only four segments.

My first MR a couple weeks ago, really more of a segment run, was 7 segments and both the OLCI and EasyChicken wouldn't print all of them. I was told my a friendly customer service rep in ORD, half way through the journey, that UA's systems are too old and the 7 segments probably confused the computer!

The customer service rep in ORD was friendly and didn't give me a drop of trouble about being on a MR, but GA's on two previous segments reacted with outright hostility when they viewed my itin.

you should be able to get all your bp's either by olci, hatched by the chicken or by an agent at the airport.

it all depends on the time of day for the return flight(s) as you need to be within the 24 hour window of the return.

example #1: june 4th same day turn & burn sfo-sea-sfo
olci for flight 1 @ t-24 for bp #1
olci 2 hours later at t-24 for bp #2

example #2: june 6-7 sfo-lax-iad-tpa/tpa-iad-sfo
olci for sfo-lax-iad-tpa at t-24 for all outbound flights
airport check-in for return bp's as t-24 for my first return flight is 6:40pm est/3:4pm pst and i will be at sfo at that time so i will have the agent check me in.

n.b. if using olci for your return, select the itin you are flying as if you were going to check in for the first leg(s). the next screen of the check-in process will have a link saying "view additional flights" (or something similar) just below your outbound flights and that's what you need to click. once you click that link, you will be presented with the check-in screen for your remaining flights.

oh, and you might even get a good agent who will say something like "oh, you're one of those" ;) of "enjoy your mileage run" ;) without you even having to 'splain the whole nine yahds <boston accent>

When doing a same-day turn-around, 4 segments, I have often only rec'd 3 BPs from OLCI. For some reason, the system recognizes the outbound as 3 segments.....which is nice when upgrading. I frequently have had one instrument (CR1s) pulled for SMF-ORD-BWI-LAX ..... and they have the option of upgrading LAX-SMF with a separate instrument.

I just ask for the 4th BP while waiting around one of the airports.

you can do the same with roundtrip as well, as long as the first segment of the return is within 24 hours.

New OLCI format
 

When using OLCI, there is a new option that asks if you want to check in for additional flights.

The functionality has been there since at least Late 2006, though the wording may have been changed.

Be careful when booking two one-ways that have little room for error. Especially if you are connecting in ORD. Most agents are good about fixing it after you explain to them exactly what you need done and then some agents want you to cough up $150 on the front end.

Example....

This week I did a run to SFO and then nested a ticket from SFO-IAD-JAX with an overnight. My ORD-SFO was delayed by two hours which meant I was going to miss my SFO-IAD flight. The flight was oversold and they were asking for volunteers. I figured why not since I was going to miss my connection anyways. I went to the agent and was able to get travel credits instead of the vouchers and she rebooked me on a United First Suite instead of E+ or C. I then asked her if she could help me out with my nested ticket and she said "Absolutely! Let me just take a look at it and see when I can you to JAX' She was able to get my nested ticket fixed and told me to see an agent when I got to SFO to have my return portion of my original trip changed. I got to SFO and spoke with a CS agent and I told her what had happened and she said in a monotone voice "I'll be more than happy to do this for you Mr. Halothane, but i will be collecting a $150 ticket change fee and any applicable differences in fares." I told her no thanks and thanked her for her time. I left the secure area and went to the elite check-in at SFO and told the agent and she said "No problem, just let me get your PNR# and i'll take care of it."


It's hit or miss and technically I should have been charged the $150 change fee but I was able to find agents that recognized me from previous flights. Good luck!


Halothane

Occasionally I have also noticed that Easy Checkin will sometimes not be able to give you your return (even if it's within the 24 window) or will only give you one segment -- from that city to your next stop. (I've experienced this with machines in ORD and IND). I often wait until I arrive at a hub and have the RCC check me in for the returns -- never any problems. My last runs, machines at IAD and IND gave me all outbound segment bp's. Since my first hub stops are either ORD or IAD, I have not chanced one way tickets.

I wouldn't say that there is hard and fast logic built into the system regarding 24hrs prior to the 'return'. I did three HNL-ORD-IAH-DEN-SFO-HNL(single flight number DEN-HNL) MR's, IAH was the destination and an immediate turn. At 24 hrs prior to HNL-ORD, it let me print HNL-ORD-IAH-DEN. at 24hr prior to DEN-SFO-HNL, it let me print the rest.