Miles & More (Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, and other partners) - Denied upgrade using UA Paper SWU

Got to the gate an hour before departure...as fast as I could after my inbound flight to Frankfurt.

Tried to use a paper UA Upgrade coupon. First class had four open seats. Told they wouldn't upgrade due to the lack of catering, as food needs to be ordered 90 minutes prior. I made it clear that I didn't care about the food, just the seat. They called the purser who said no they would not authorize the upgrade.

Seems like a bad business decision to me. I'm sure that they get paid for accepting the coupon from United... Lost revenue in my mind, granted, probably not much. But more importantly a big customer service fail... Will have to rethink using LH when there are other choices out there that offer similar timings/price.

Honestly, LH did the right job and I doubt, LH will miss you and your business including the amazing UA upgrade voucher.

Honestly, LH did the right job and I doubt, LH will miss you and your business including the amazing UA upgrade voucher.

And why do you think that?

It's moreso about regulation than actually caring about the food. You might not care for the meal but if that seat is filled they NEED a meal. If they have already started catering, it's just going to take more time to redo it.

Honestly, LH did the right job and I doubt, LH will miss you and your business including the amazing UA upgrade voucher.

Agreed, the point has some validity until the meaningless threat of taking business elsewhere.

Honestly, LH did the right job and I doubt, LH will miss you and your business including the amazing UA upgrade voucher.

I would be pi**ed as well .
But Bruchpilot , you are lucky who are in possession of the now highly valued
e- voucher.

It is of course very warming to note that LH manages to upset not only HON's .

IMHO nothing to be pissed or even upset about, i don't remember any airline that would upgrade if they have no catering (at least on longhaul). problem seems to be that there is some nutjobs out there who complain after the flight that they didn't get fed properly. just read thru some of the "maximizer" threads here, and you'll see that this seems to be the unfortunate truth.
that said, some airlines (or even stations) try harder to make last minute catering possible. i personally never had an issue with it, but it might be due to SEN/HON status...

problem seems to be that there is some nutjobs out there who complain after the flight that they didn't get fed properly. ..

I really doubt that would be the issue.

Of course , if you never had an issue with , you have no reason to be upset .:eek:

Just look through FT and you will see more examples of "no good deed goes unpunished" than can be imagined.

It may well be that OP, as an individual, doesn't care about a meal and just wants the seat. Perhaps he is one of those who would have declined catering in any event. But, there are those who would have agreed and then later whined that they couldn't even find a snack bar.

In addition, LH has a legitimate brand issue. If asked about his F experience, what if OP slips up and says to a colleague, "they didn't have any food for me." without explaining the circumstances?

Same thing with conformance for check-in, bag drop, security, gate & boarding and the like. The kindly agent who checks your bag at T-59, gets slammed when the bag doesn't make it.

In the USA, CO used to allow people to keep connections below the MCT and note the record as "PAX WARNED ON MCT." They stopped it when pax who missed their connections became loud whiners about compensation and other atrocities.

Can't blame LH one bit for this. Even though in OP's particular case it may have worked a hardship.

...Told they wouldn't upgrade due to the lack of catering, as food needs to be ordered 90 minutes prior....

Many non-USA airlines have this policy: no catering, no passengers.@:-) USA based airlines always cater full as premium cabins are always full of upgrades.;) Many other threads about this same issue.

Got to the gate an hour before departure...as fast as I could after my inbound flight to Frankfurt.

Tried to use a paper UA Upgrade coupon. First class had four open seats. Told they wouldn't upgrade due to the lack of catering, as food needs to be ordered 90 minutes prior. I made it clear that I didn't care about the food, just the seat. They called the purser who said no they would not authorize the upgrade.

Seems like a bad business decision to me. I'm sure that they get paid for accepting the coupon from United... Lost revenue in my mind, granted, probably not much. But more importantly a big customer service fail... Will have to rethink using LH when there are other choices out there that offer similar timings/price.

While catering may be a valid concern on the part of the gate agent and the purser, it would behoove LH to come up with a formal policy on when UA GPUs must be presented. Perhaps UA could then state on the paper GPU that the document must be presented at the gate by T minus X minutes from departure.

LH could also come up with a formal directive to its employees/contractors in out-stations on how to get UA customers with paper GPUs on its grading lists. If I'm flying from FCO-MUC-IAD and only have an hour connection at MUC, I certainly should have the ability to get on the grading list at FCO so that I actually have a shot at getting the upgrade.

I really doubt that would be the issue.

ever since i started flying on a very regular basis this has been one of the reasons given on why the "no meal no upgrade" rule was put in place (at least with LH/OS)...

The 'no meal no upgrade' policy is also in place for LH elites trying to upgrade with miles/evouchers/cash etc. They only load in sets of two, if you had a full paying guest in there who doesn't get his meal choice...

Got to the gate an hour before departure...as fast as I could after my inbound flight to Frankfurt.

Tried to use a paper UA Upgrade coupon. First class had four open seats. Told they wouldn't upgrade due to the lack of catering, as food needs to be ordered 90 minutes prior. I made it clear that I didn't care about the food, just the seat. They called the purser who said no they would not authorize the upgrade.

Seems like a bad business decision to me. I'm sure that they get paid for accepting the coupon from United... Lost revenue in my mind, granted, probably not much. But more importantly a big customer service fail... Will have to rethink using LH when there are other choices out there that offer similar timings/price.

This is a longstanding issue with LH for both C and F. They won't upgrade if they don't have the catering sorted, and I don't think they would accept a revenue booking at that point either. I think it's smart, actually. Can you imagine the DYKWIAs who would conveniently forget what they had been told and create a huge fuss/tantrum somewhere at 35,000 feet? LH is much better about protecting their premium classes from legions of upgraders (which is why the upgrades are actually available, unlike on UA) and the revenue from a SWU is likely chump change. Ironically, UA 1Ks get more upgrades than LH SENs or HONs do.

Many fair and valid points here. I know my original post was a little snippy and negative against LH.

As one poster mentioned previously, maybe they should allow a passenger to be put on the waitlist at the originating station, so that if there ends up being a short connection, as there was in my case, this issue would not present itself.

The overall flight was pleasant, and the purser came and apologized and brought me a F amenity kit, as well as a glass of champagne.

Hopefully next time all works more smoothly!

The 'no meal no upgrade' policy is also in place for LH elites trying to upgrade with miles/evouchers/cash etc.

so the conclusion is that , as it is a LH policy , we are not allowed to be pissed:D

so the conclusion is that , as it is a LH policy , we are not allowed to be pissed:D

the conclusion is know the policy so you don't have to be pissed... @:-):p

Yes, but is this "policy" actually stated on the back of the paper GPU?

The problem with having a blanket statement is that it may not conform to the way LH caters. I understand that they cater for groups of 4. So, if there had been 5 open seats in FC or 3, the OP may well have been accommodated. It was the particular circumstance of 4 open seats which meant that additional catering would have been required.

My thinking on why the OP has no reason to be angry is that certificate or not, until an upgrade is cleared, no one should have an expectation of one. Yes, we here at Flyertalk use all sorts of ways to determine if our upgrades will go through, but in the end, it is the airline's decision. The OP developed an expectation that the upgrade would go through based on what he/she deduced, not based on what the airline said.

The problem with having a blanket statement is that it may not conform to the way LH caters. I understand that they cater for groups of 4. So, if there had been 5 open seats in FC or 3, the OP may well have been accommodated. It was the particular circumstance of 4 open seats which meant that additional catering would have been required.

My thinking on why the OP has no reason to be angry is that certificate or not, until an upgrade is cleared, no one should have an expectation of one. Yes, we here at Flyertalk use all sorts of ways to determine if our upgrades will go through, but in the end, it is the airline's decision. The OP developed an expectation that the upgrade would go through based on what he/she deduced, not based on what the airline said.

Your right. The cabin had four seats occupied, and four open based on what the gate agent told me. I had previously been under the impression that they would upgrade based on seat availability, not catering -- having been previously upgraded on other carriers and been told there is a seat but no FC food.

Now it is interesting that they cater to such tight thresholds and need 90 minutes notice to adjust the numbers -- what if someone had turned up at the airport, missed a connection on another carrier, or whatever, and was willing to fork out the hard cash for the seat....not some coupon... wonder if the outcome would have been different?

Lesson learned, and I hope to not have such tight connections in the future, so these GPUs can actually be used as designed :)

the conclusion is know the policy so you don't have to be pissed... @:-):p

Ahhh , so no more complaint threads on FT with pissed HON's about new policys , since they are now known.:D

It's moreso about regulation than actually caring about the food. You might not care for the meal but if that seat is filled they NEED a meal. If they have already started catering, it's just going to take more time to redo it.

Seems LH has created a Catch 22 situation. Since one cannot use a MP paper SWU until check-in how can there be no possibility of an extra meal being ordered? (To my knowledge one cannot request an MP cert award during OLCI, and one would have to be at the airport 2-hours or more to check in; as noted, connections would be problematic in most cases since these tend to be 1 to 1-1/2 hours.) This pretty much eliminates using these certs for LH F...apparently echoing LH's policy of not releasing F awards to other STAR partners until a couple of days prior to a flight no matter how wide open the cabin is.

Also, it appears this is not a real excuse. LH cannot be catering its F cabin in such a way that there is only one main course for each booked customer, thus ensuring choice is impossible. Pax already has a tray in Business, so why could not that tray be brought into F with one of the left-over (i.e. not selected by "paying F customers") F main courses provided?

I would certainly contact both LH and MP because this just does not sound correct on so many counts.

*********

So if indeed this "Rule of 4" is LH's new catering norm, it means F awards will only be opened up if the F cabin is booked at 1-3, or 5-7. And in the former case, only one F seat would be opened up based on the catering logistics. This is good to know for those of us waiting for F award seats to open up. If we see four occupied seats on Expert Flyer, then forget any award seats opening up. But if we see three or less, or five or more, then LH will open up at least one seat for an award.

Also, it appears this is not a real excuse. LH cannot be catering its F cabin in such a way that there is only one main course for each booked customer, thus ensuring choice is impossible. Pax already has a tray in Business, so why could not that tray be brought into F with one of the left-over (i.e. not selected by "paying F customers") F main courses provided?

Because at some point in the past some smart asses agreed to this arrangement when receiving the upgrade and then complained about the bad service and lack of food afterwards.

HTB.

Because at some point in the past some smart asses agreed to this arrangement when receiving the upgrade and then complained about the bad service and lack of food afterwards.

HTB.

Also fellow pax paying for the ticket took offense about upgrader and freeloader who can be identified by receiving a different service level.

F-class meals come in 2 seat packages. If they do not have enough meals (late cancel, uneven booking) or you are coming too late for them to organize, you will not get it. If you have a special meal, you won't be op upped either.

Has always been like that. Do not get where the news is here?

Seems LH has created a Catch 22 situation. Since one cannot use a MP paper SWU until check-in how can there be no possibility of an extra meal being ordered? (To my knowledge one cannot request an MP cert award during OLCI, and one would have to be at the airport 2-hours or more to check in; as noted, connections would be problematic in most cases since these tend to be 1 to 1-1/2 hours.) This pretty much eliminates using these certs for LH F...apparently echoing LH's policy of not releasing F awards to other STAR partners until a couple of days prior to a flight no matter how wide open the cabin is.

I recall seeing stories here on Flyertalk of folks not being able to get on the grading list with their paper SWUs/GPUs at physical check-in at out-stations, especially those run by contract personnel. Then, they get to MUC or FRA for the long-haul flight and cannot get on the grading list then because Lufthansa's website had given then such a short layover (German efficiency). If one should have a short layover, like what LH seems to default to, then there's no way a person will be able to get the upgrade.

Perhaps a comment for the UA board; however, this seems to be another devaluation of MileagePlus benefits.

Want First, buy first*

*Glad I was able to help clarify this situation for you (-;

Want First, buy first*

*Glad I was able to help clarify this situation for you (-;

I find that my stress level has gone done significantly ever since I booked paid F(sometimes "A") tickets on LH as opposed to using awards/upgrades. :D

Want First, buy first*

*Glad I was able to help clarify this situation for you (-;

Or just fly LX where business is "good enough".

Yes, but is this "policy" actually stated on the back of the paper GPU?

Based on availability. No meal, no availability. As easy as this. However, I upgraded with SWUs umpteen times and never ran into problems. I normally check in for an swu upgraded flight either in DUS or LHR. No problem. So a one time problem does not create a "policy".

Perhaps a comment for the UA board; however, this seems to be another devaluation of MileagePlus benefits.

Hilarious. Perhaps our collective chagrin at being called "over-entitled" stemmed in part from the fact that for some of us the shoe fits.

Yes, but is this "policy" actually stated on the back of the paper GPU?

Indeed it is clearly stated on the back:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-tripiHZ5vV8/UDHl3vmIsOI/AAAAAAAABZA/0xg5eTgWXhw/s1280/UA%2520GPU%2520back.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-tripiHZ5vV8/UDHl3vmIsOI/AAAAAAAABZA/0xg5eTgWXhw/s1280/UA%2520GPU%2520back.jpg

And the front of the document:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-l1JYhl4WWwI/UDHl7-0rBKI/AAAAAAAABZI/ICFq9XfuY98/s1163/UA+GPU+front.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-l1JYhl4WWwI/UDHl7-0rBKI/AAAAAAAABZI/ICFq9XfuY98/s1163/UA+GPU+front.jpg

Of course, to make these things of even more dubious value: "Other restrictions may apply. Terms and conditions may change without notice."

These one-sided contracts are increasingly being declared void by American courts and even Congress (in the re-write of credit card T&Cs). Wonder when the EC will start to investigate such consumer-unfriendly boiler plate and start weighing in on the customers' side?

That said, I found this thread to be most informative. As I said in my earlier post, it is also revealing about LH's restrictive F award policy and gives a better idea if and why award seats will open on given flights a few days prior to departure.

Wouldn't asking the pax sign a waiver have more business sense?

8. [...] and will be processed based on the availability of capacity-controlled seats and meals.

Please explain me what is dubious about this sentence in the T&C?

I do not want to start a discussion about the food in here - but to me clearly the seat (esp. on LH) is a way bigger reason than the meals to upgrade from C to F.
So in my understanding as a company LH should just take the cert and the pax signs sth. that she/he is willing to skip F meals and just take whatever there is on board - happy customer, happy airline.. ?

happy customer, happy airline.. ?

Happy customer? Perhaps. But perhaps unhappy other customers in F who would see that as degradation of service (said here before).

Happy airline? Why? Revenue pax would make airline happy, but not UA's paper SWU upgrade...

These one-sided contracts are increasingly being declared void by American courts and even Congress (in the re-write of credit card T&Cs). Wonder when the EC will start to investigate such consumer-unfriendly boiler plate and start weighing in on the customers' side?.

What is unclear in this language? And the EC will certainly not look into vouchers a US carrier issues in the US.


That said, I found this thread to be most informative. As I said in my earlier post, it is also revealing about LH's restrictive F award policy and gives a better idea if and why award seats will open on given flights a few days prior to departure.

I do not consider LH's F awards policy restrictive. I get the seats I want. However, why should LH offer the same number of seats to other airline's customers? In particular customers of those airlines that treat their elites better than other airlines' elites :confused:

Happy customer? Perhaps. But perhaps unhappy other customers in F who would see that as degradation of service (said here before).

Happy airline? Why? Revenue pax would make airline happy, but not UA's paper SWU upgrade...

Happy customer for sure.. and why would anybody else feel downgraded in Service if I do get another meal :confused:

And you do think that flying with an empty seat in F and a customer in paid C that could bring more revenue in the future and today as United surely will have to pay its share is better than accepting the SWU :confused:

I somehow fail to understand the logic of LH here.. or at least it wouldn' be mine..

Something I'm not able to find: How do you earn these?

Something I'm not able to find: How do you earn these?

United 1Ks earn 6 GPUs once they cross 100kEQM and two more every 50k: http://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/mileageplus/premier/swupgrades.aspx

Sort of what evouchers used to be at M&M a decade ago. Just like we could make a paper printout of an evoucher and present it to UA on the day of departure (when the confirmed upgrade didn't happen) UA issues the GPU in paper form for use on LH.

The confirmed upgrade with GPU on United metal has become expensive, so these are floating around and very frequently used on LH on a standby basis, which used to be a bad deal earlier.

Something I'm not able to find: How do you earn these?

http://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/mileageplus/premier/swupgrades.aspx

Thanks, I was wondering how the specific use on LH was made... but now I know.

United 1Ks earn 6 GPUs once they cross 100kEQM and two more every 50k: http://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/mileageplus/premier/swupgrades.aspx

Sort of what evouchers used to be at M&M a decade ago. Just like we could make a paper printout of an evoucher and present it to UA on the day of departure (when the confirmed upgrade didn't happen) UA issues the GPU in paper form for use on LH.

The confirmed upgrade with GPU on United metal has become expensive, so these are floating around and very frequently used on LH on a standby basis, which used to be a bad deal earlier.

So, if I understand correctly, the OP is concerned that LH is not honoring the upgrade because of capacity limitations (granted that the capacity issue is meals, not seats). However, the real problem seems to be that the OP's own airline isn't coming up to scratch with the upgrades they are offering driving the OP to use it on LH. Seems more like a UA problem than an LH problem.

Why, the cert they issued clearly says if seats or meals are not available, you can't use this standby upgrade instrument. Its not like they are promising their top elite something will happen for sure...

...I don't think they would accept a revenue booking at that point either. I think it's smart, actually...

I once showed up in NRT and LH was delighted to upgrade me to First until the point where they found out that I didn't want to upgrade with cash but miles.

While they were able to cater for the flight for a cash upgrade, they were not willing to do so for miles...

That doesn't seem that unreasonable.... it's in line with there being more "cash" seats available than award seats.

I once showed up in NRT and LH was delighted to upgrade me to First until the point where they found out that I didn't want to upgrade with cash but miles.

While they were able to cater for the flight for a cash upgrade, they were not willing to do so for miles...

Maybe they had a standby SWU upgrade pax before taking the 2nd/4th/6th or 8th meal and he would get bumped when you paid.

Some upgrades are more equal than other upgrades...

Good news is that you look like you wouldn't be one who would use non-cash upgrade instruments! ;)

no, LH doesnt get paid for accepting SWU from United. They LOVE to reject SWU and the first line of rejects is "no catering available". They do this all the time. It happened to me when flown Y and had one SWU left, got rejected. Went to talk to manager, and AMPLE amount of food was available. So agents are kinda trained to reject SWU and they will come up with all sorts of excuses. Be more assertive next time.

no, LH doesnt get paid for accepting SWU from United. They LOVE to reject SWU and the first line of rejects is "no catering available". They do this all the time. It happened to me when flown Y and had one SWU left, got rejected. Went to talk to manager, and AMPLE amount of food was available. So agents are kinda trained to reject SWU and they will come up with all sorts of excuses. Be more assertive next time.

It'd be funny to start the conversation with the agents:
"Do you think there's enough food in C/F today?" They reply "yes, sure" and then you give them the SWU! :D

never had any failure using SWU's on Z fares prior to the changes for the last 9 years or so, at a rate of an average of 4 a year on LH. maybe being SEN also helped! Anyhow, now I am not buying Z fares on LH anymore... middle eastern carriers provide better much better value!

@bostonSENflyer : yes LH does get paid for SWU's use, albeit a small unknown amount probably, but they do get some revenue from it. You'll find it is much more easy to use at stations outside the USA for some reasons.

This is a vestigial organ of days past: The UA SWUs get netted against upgrades issued by LH on UA metal under the 1994 marketing- and the 2000 revenue share agreement. Would be interesting to see if UA had to publish the details of that during their bankruptcy procedures post 9/11.

Can I use UA Paper SWU upgrade voucher for
the following flight ?

Flight:LH627
Operated by PrivatAir SA dba Lufthansa.
Fare Class: Economy (Q)

The real problem is that you cannot list your standby upgrade at your originating airport. Typically connection time in FRA, MUC or DUS is so short that you will miss the cutoff time for catering unless you are willing to take an earlier connection. LH could solve this issue by making this possible so that they could know in advance whom to expect to show up for an upgrade... Problem solved!

The real problem is that you cannot list your standby upgrade at your originating airport. Typically connection time in FRA, MUC or DUS is so short that you will miss the cutoff time for catering unless you are willing to take an earlier connection. LH could solve this issue by making this possible so that they could know in advance whom to expect to show up for an upgrade... Problem solved!

That would be entirely too easy!!!

The real problem is that you cannot list your standby upgrade at your originating airport. Typically connection time in FRA, MUC or DUS is so short that you will miss the cutoff time for catering unless you are willing to take an earlier connection. LH could solve this issue by making this possible so that they could know in advance whom to expect to show up for an upgrade... Problem solved!

Outstations can list you grading request in the system of they want to!
The HON card with friendly banter works miracles!
The DUS station confirmed SWU upgrades many times for me on longhauls ex-FRA! Sometimes they even rebooked me on earlier feeders so that 'I could enjoy the FCT longer' !!

The real problem is that you cannot list your standby upgrade at your originating airport. Typically connection time in FRA, MUC or DUS is so short that you will miss the cutoff time for catering unless you are willing to take an earlier connection. LH could solve this issue by making this possible so that they could know in advance whom to expect to show up for an upgrade... Problem solved!

VCE is an outstation and it is not a problem at all to Waitlist.

The only outstation I have not been able to waitlist at is LHR and that was only one time (fixed afterwards).

HON card seems to be the prereq.

HON card seems to be the prereq.

And since this thread if about UA cert upgrades, highly doubtful that any UA 1Ks will have an HON card. The point is LH doesn't want to upgrade UA elites and has found yet another rationale for refusing (after fiddling with eligible economy and business fares last year) them.

..highly doubtful that any UA 1Ks will have an HON card. The point is LH doesn't want to upgrade UA elites and has found yet another rationale for refusing..
Both statements are patently inaccurate. To the former, I know such a specimen and to the latter, I do it all the time, especially since Cvntinental has done away with intl. upgrades for 1Ks and lesser beings. My paper SWU clearing rate beats my evoucher success.

LH treats no one fairly but they certainly love to hog certs which they perceive as 'revenue' compared to their own instruments which they consider 'write offs'.

Can I use UA Paper SWU upgrade voucher for
the following flight ?

Flight:LH627
Operated by PrivatAir SA dba Lufthansa.
Fare Class: Economy (Q)

If it is booked as LH627 in V or higher (Q is higher), the fact that it is operated by a sub of LH should not matter. Make sure that you have the paper certificate SWU from UA. This will be processed as "standby" at the flight's departing airport. If you get there early, check-in might be able to confirm the upgrade right away, depending how full biz is at that time.

Both statements are patently inaccurate. To the former, I know such a specimen and to the latter, I do it all the time, especially since Cvntinental has done away with intl. upgrades for 1Ks and lesser beings. My paper SWU clearing rate beats my evoucher success.

LH treats no one fairly but they certainly love to hog certs which they perceive as 'revenue' compared to their own instruments which they consider 'write offs'.

Correct. The "poor" HONs have to hit 1K status so that they can get the 6 SWUS a year.

Correct. The "poor" HONs have to hit 1K status so that they can get the 6 SWUS a year.
With matches and fast tracks and 1.5x earnings, 1K isn't a hard thing to add for a HON. Add to this that UA regularly offered it for purchase.

Just a brief question: What´s the current policy regarding upgrades from P and Z to F using SWUs?

Just a brief question: What´s the current policy regarding upgrades from P and Z to F using SWUs?

It is printed directly on the SWU that validity is only for D/C/J.

Currently to upgrade from P and Z it is possible on Swiss ONLY with the evoucher or a surcharge in miles (Miles&More) AFAIK.

It is printed directly on the SWU that validity is only for D/C/J.

Currently to upgrade from P and Z it is possible on Swiss ONLY with the evoucher or a surcharge in miles (Miles&More) AFAIK.

Thanks for the fast response.

In that case the odds of me purchasing a LH business class fare anytime soon are about 0.1%.:)

Can SWUs be presented at the FCT/FCL or only at the gate?

Can SWUs be presented at the FCT/FCL or only at the gate?
You can't present SWUs (now known as GPUs) at the FCT/FCL unless you've just arrived in LH F since you don't have access to the FCT/FCL without an F BP. :p

You can present them at check-in, transfer desk, in a lounge, etc. You'll find more than you ever want to know about using GPUs on LH in this thread in the UA forum.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-mileageplus-consolidated/1295082-global-premier-fka-systemwide-upgrades-lufthansa.html

Sorry, I should rephrase...if I have access to FCT (I have an F ticket) and my companion has a C ticket, can he present the GPU/SWU at the FCT while as my guest, or only at the aforementioned places?

Sorry, I should rephrase...if I have access to FCT (I have an F ticket) and my companion has a C ticket, can he present the GPU/SWU at the FCT while as my guest, or only at the aforementioned places?
Of course you (or your travelling companion) can present a GPU at the FCT but if you have a connecting LH flight to FRA you may want to try first at the originating airport.

Sorry if this is the wrong place, but if a GPU is applied at MUC on an itinerary MUC-FRA-DEN, will the upgrade clear if there's space in time for me to check baggage at the higher allowance?

Sorry if this is the wrong place, but if a GPU is applied at MUC on an itinerary MUC-FRA-DEN, will the upgrade clear if there's space in time for me to check baggage at the higher allowance?
As you can only ug one segment and that should likely be FRA-DEN, then you still face the same restriction on MUC-FRA.

Unless you try C->F in which case you already have the max allowance to begin with.

As you can only ug one segment and that should likely be FRA-DEN, then you still face the same restriction on MUC-FRA.

Unless you try C->F in which case you already have the max allowance to begin with.

I thought MSC rule counts the luggage restriction on the overwater segment.

I thought MSC rule counts the luggage restriction on the overwater segment.
How does that help you?

They are by definition standby upgrades. When you check in at MUC, you are still in the lower service class. It could be different if you fly nonstop ex FRA but that is a true gamble.