Originally Posted by
jmanirish
3rd option:
Book Lufthansa Premium Economy on LAX-FRA/MUC-LHR and apply a GPU. Should be around $2k. Higher chances of clearing into C than on UA, and worst case you end up in PE.
Downside is you have a connection, it can be a pain to ticket PE on a 016 ticket, and your travel policy may not let you book PE.
That is news to me, and very helpful. I have used GPUs with LH (mostly for C-->F) and while they are a pain to do online (I usually have to call), when it finally takes, it has worked well for the UG. But I didn't know that the chances to upgrade were that much higher for LH than for UA.
Out of curiosity, since LHR is only an intermediate stop on my way to the EU, will the likelihood change for an UG from Y-->C if it was LAX-LHR vs LAX-LHR-EU? I can book the last leg separately but would prefer to have it all on 1 PNR.