drummingcraig

Hi all - I haven't been flying at all the past couple of years so I am very much out of the loop on things (I was previously a 1K over at United for a few years). I recently booked a Saver First (domestic) trip with my UA miles for Mrs. Drummingcraig, myself and our yet to be born daughter for next summer. The flights are all listed as being operated by US Airways and the routes are JAX-CLT-MSP and MSP-CLT-JAX, all on Airbii.

I had a couple questions I was hoping some of you could help me with.

1) I no longer have any status or credit card perks. Does First class on US offer any free baggage?

2) I wasn't able to reserve any seats at the time of purchase (thru UA's website). Can I select seats now via US' website or do I need to wait until check-in?

3) What are the odds (if any) that we would get bumped out of F if the flight sells out? In other words, would they downgrade us (since we're on a saver partner award) in order to sell our seats to other customers?

Sorry for asking what are probably newbie questions, but with the merger happening I figured it best to get actual answers than to try and divine info for myself (that would probably be wrong). I remember what a mess it was when UA and CO merged.

chasgoose

This will likely be moved to the US subforum, but anyways

1. Yes you get free baggage on US in F

2. Since you booked w/ UA miles you are going to have to get the US reservation number and assign seats through their website (but you don't have to wait until checkin). US makes this easy because you can access flight info on their site with just the flight number and passenger name.

3. F almost never gets overbooked. They aren't going to oversell and bump you out because you are on an award. On the very odd chance that it did get overbooked with paid tickets I guess you would be at the bottom of the list, but this isn't going to happen so I wouldn't worry.

gruss

F passengers get 2 checked bags free up to 70 lbs each.

You should be able to log on using your record locator or ticket number on the US website and select seats. If only Row 1 is available, the system may not let you select seats and you either need to call in or select during check-in.

To my knowledge, once your award ticket is booked, it is like any other paid fare and should not be subject to being downgraded. Once your reservation is ticketed, those seats should be taken out of F inventory.

LarkSFO

On United.com, go to your itinerary.

Towards the top, there is a link that says 'See additional Confirmation Numbers' (or something like that).

Click on that link, and it will show you your US Airways confirmation number.

Go to US Airways, go to 'manage itinerary' and enter your confirmation number and your last name. Your booking will come up and you can select your seats.

BoeingBoy

Re: #3 - I can foresee two possibilities that could result in you losing your FC award seats. 1 - This far out it's possible that FAMs could take your seats and if there were no other seats open US agents are supposed to use a pecking order for downgrades. 2 - An equipment change to a plane with fewer FC seats - again there's an order to follow for downgrades if no open FC seats exist.

The possibility of either is relatively small, but either could happen.

Jim

reeg2

In the .0001% chance they're downgraded, expect all/most of the miles back and further compensation. But unbelievably unlikely.

seattleBH

A few other things to expect (though on board product may change by next summer):

- good wifi
- plastic cups in F for beverages
- no food
- no entertainment or power

I think that equipment changes for next summer are likely, though no one knows for sure. To be safe, I would avoid row 4 of the F cabin if it happens to be offered.

Just my 2 cents...

drummingcraig

Yeah I know there can be Irrops or issues resulting in an equipment swap and then everything is up in the air (no pun intended). I was just a little nervous being on a super cheap partner award and wasn't sure if I should be worried about getting bumped for an upgrader or last minute high roller.

Good to know about row 4. I know with UA I used to avoid row 4 in FC on their domestic flights for the same reason. A320's and 319's would get swapped frequently resulting in a lot of this =>

Thank you all for your replies. I will look up our reservation info and see if I can select seats in US' website.

aztimm

Which specific Airbus aircraft?

The A321 has 4 rows of F, while the A319 & A320 only have 3. If you're on an A321, I'd avoid row 4, just in case of a downgauge in aircraft.

Since US won't be in *A after 3/31, if there are any changes to your flights, UA (your ticketing carrier) may elect to book you on one of their partner airlines.

If you have the US PNR, you should be able to go online and select seats. If not, you could call US and they should be able to find you by the date/flight/name.

drummingcraig

Its a mix of both types, but I checked on our seats and we're booked in 2A/2C for all four flights. ^