Did they already merge UA/CO accounts!?!

I'm CO Platinum with 98K EQMs in my account. I am also a UA member (Premier) with 2K EQMs. I was specifically holding off on merging my two accounts, so that I can delay receiving my SWUs until they automatically merge them on 12/31. The reason for this is that I have no use for them now and would like to get these two extra months of validity.

However, I noticed today that they already merged activity with my UA account, despite my not having done so myself. I know this, because they have deposited my SWUs and Regional Upgrades and given me 1K status over at UA. Has anyone else noticed this?

 

I think that's been reported before -- your status is based on the combined point balance if you linked accounts. But they haven't really merged them yet (AFAIK), because that would mean a zero balance in my CO account and a much higher balance in my UA account. I don't think that's going to happen for another few months (end of the year?).

 

Have you transferred miles between accounts? (That also links them)

 

I have transferred miles between them, but there were two separate functions -- transfers and linking -- and it was explicitly stated that transferring miles alone does not link the accounts. In fact, one of the whole points of linking was to choose which account receives the SWUs (if applicable). In my case, had I wanted to link I would have chosen UA in order to use the SWUs on LH, but they arbitrarily placed them in CO. I emailed OnePass, but it's the weekend, so I don't expect clarification for a few days. I'll report back.

In the end, I can live with the SWUs staying in my CO account, because I won't actually be using them before 12/31 anyway, but losing 2 months on their validity is a very big deal!

 

I believe it has been stated that they will allow extension to end of 2012.

 

Stated by whom? Do you mean by UA or here on MP? It would be great if you could point me to that source! Thanks...

 

Stated by MPers and FTers based on what they were told by UA/CO, I believe. See for example

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...49-any-way-postpone-expiration-date-swus.html

(since I will only pass the 1K threshold on Dec 26, I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to it... I am sure there are better threads)

 

Only during the initial "beta" phase. Once this went public/announced on co/ua.com, moving miles between accounts also implicitly linked them.

Moving SWUsshould be relatively simple - just a phone call (albeit potentially longer than usual).

 

A phone agent mentioned it to me back in August, when I lamented not having stopped short of 100k in my UA account in June. He said there'd be a plan to extend them through end 2012 ... Without me asking, so probably not telling me what I want to hear.

As it is I'll be pressed to use the current set before they expire, lest I use them on ord-alb in a cr7 or some similar atrocity.

 

I linked accounts but initially my UA status didn't show up on CO - I just logged in and noticed that I now have high status on CO (which I didn't when first linked) Lucky for me the only miles in CO are not eqm as I have carefully planned my trips to make 1k as late in the year as possible.

 

Accounts will not formally merge until some time in the first quarter of next year, but if you did your matching, EQMs earned in either program are monitored simultaneously and will be credited for elite tier purposes (i.e. regional upgrade credits, status requalification, SWUs, etc.) once the combined total is achieved. That's why we were asked to commit to either UA or CO tier benefits (i.e. upgrade credits) when doing the match. So that's why your status was renewed for next year even though you split the accounts into which EQMs were going. I have been told, and it has been posted several places around here, that SWUs deposited early (i.e. this year upon crossing 100K instead of the usual beginning of the following year), that we can request these be extended to the end of January 2013 at this time next year should we not have used them all.

 

@Canadi>n: That's just it, I never had the chance to choose which program is my "primary" one, because I never linked them. The only thing I did is transfer miles from one to the other, which is a distinctly different procedure. That's obviously how they linked the accounts, but I didn't get to choose the primary one and they just arbitrarily chose CO for me.

In any case, if the reports of expiration extension are true (and yes, I did read them here and elsewhere after I was told about it in this thread), then all's well that ends well. My email to onePass was never replied to, though...

 

Choosing the primary program matters much less now that the upgrade benefits are freely fungible between the two.

And there are a few reports that there is only one linking required rather than both now that the program is out of the secret/test mode.

 

I beg to differ: LH!!

 

So have CO move a SWU to UA and then have it issued to paper for LH.

 

Yup, somebody suggested that to me as well and it's exactly what I pretend to do. Thanks to all who chimed in!

 

So it seems the merger is a bit farther along than I expected. I booked an ORD-DEN r/t using CO flight numbers operated by UA, 005 tickets, and explicitly entered my OP number in the reservation. Did all that to avoid crossing 100k too early - which I know now won't work since my accounts are linked and might not have been needed to begin with - but I was surprised to get a boarding pass showing 1K yesterday. Furthermore, the flight has already posted to my MP account!

I actually thought I mistakenly entered MP number when making reservation instead of OP, but the confirmation clearly shows my OP number. So, essentially, UA doesn't even bother crediting to 'secondary' account anymore? Or do they just credit to the operating carrier's account?