unitedpremier

Hi Frequent flyers,

I purchased economy class tickets for my family (Class K) from US to Germany. I have 1K with United and had some Global Premier Upgrades. I have got 3 of these certificates redeemed for a POTENTIAL upgrade on the Lufthansa flight. My question is - Is it advisable to do online check in within 24 hours of the departure of the flight and go to the airport and show the Global Premier Upgrade certificate to get an upgrade or should I just wait till the day of travel and go to the airport to take a chance on the upgrade.

Thanks,
unitedpremier

Biginch

k fares aren't eligible, sorry.

UAPremExecflyer

Welcome to FT!
Can I suggest your question is better addressed in the UA forum.
The rules for using UA GPUs on LH are pretty clear

oliver2002

The thread about the use of GPUs printed on paper is here:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...t-process.html

Curious how UA MP even agreed to issue you the paper voucher as they nowadays ask for the booking and verify eligibility of the fare beforehand.

LufthansaFlyer

JUST SPENT ABOUT 30 minutes chatting with a UA Star Alliance Award Supervisor. Here is what will happen next week, when UA and LH move to electronic GPU processing:

directly from my website:

Beginning on or about September 3, United will allow for the processing of GPUs electronically via their website. This was supposed to take effect August 1 but tech issues delayed the roll out.

How GPUs process will be DRAMATICALLY different from the current process. Currently, you would need to request a paper certificate that would be issued and mailed to you by United. You then present it to the LH check-in or gate agent and hope that they clear it for you on the day of your departure.

NOW FOR THE MAJOR CHANGE:

Effective September 3 (or thereabout), GPU based upgrades need to be requested electronically, and you will know if you clear within 90 seconds of submitting the request. If you are declined, you can request the upgrade again later, either the same day or the next day, etc. THERE WILL BE NO WAIT-LISTING. If you do not clear, you need to resubmit again, until the upgrade clears.

HERE IS THE KEY PIECE:

IF YOUR UPGRADE REQUEST DOES NOT CLEAR PRIOR TO 10 HOURS AHEAD OF YOUR DEPARTURE, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO USE THE GPU TO UPGRADE FOR THE FLIGHT.

In other words, you will not be able to upgrade within 10 hours of your flight, which means no clearing potential at the gate. You will know if you cleared 10 hours before your flight, and have 0 chance to clear after that point.

If you have multiple segments that are GPU eligible on LH, you will have to do this for each segment individually and the 10 hour rule applies to each segment, not the start time of your itinerary.

This will apply to tickets booked either through United.com or Lufthansa.com.



This information came from a very friendly and knowledgable United Supervisor who answered my call at the United Star Alliance Award Desk this evening.

UNITED Mileage Plus members will be receiving an email detailing this new program on September 1 or 2.

jmanirish

Thanks for the update. Do you happen to have more knowledge about the bolded part? Does this mean tickets booked through a travel agent will not be eligible for GPU usage, or just can't use the new electronic method?

LufthansaFlyer

You should have no problem with the travel agent booking. You may want to let them know to book you the eligible fare classes for GPUs.

jmanirish

Great thanks. Fare class isn't an issue for me as corporate policy is took book refundable tickets for international travel.

weero

Now one knows.

Most new United rules are enforced not by written rules but by what the system understands and can process. Like before with their Indian call centres, UA seems not to train their agents anymore but have them repeat what the computer said - akin Uhura in Star Trek.

I would not rely on such a system working at all in the first few months, no matter if the tix are 220 or 016 stock.

For the time being you can still order them as paper which is what I would do for the time being ...

The UA website also lists the old rules, so agents won't act up.

weero

Time's up!

No email and UA's US site still lists only the paper certs: here.

Do you think the agent made the stuff up out of thin air or did they get briefed prematurely?

warakorn

K-class is el-cheapo Economy.
fyi: Your family wont get any miles with K-class tickets. (I just wanted to say that, just in case, you would complain about the missing miles after your family trip)

weero

Nada.

The GPU for Lufthansa are still processed by paper.

That agent probably just made that stuff up or misinterpreted some internal briefing.