Hey y'all, I'm a little turned around by the rules of paid upgrades w.r.t. PQMs especially when partner carriers are involved, so I'm hoping you can help me determine whether there's a clerical error on my MileagePlus account or whether it's legit.
Back in June I had a Boston to Johannesburg trip that was booked via Egencia and involved United, South African Airways, and Lufthansa. Because of the multi-carrier nature of the trip, I wasn't able to put in, in advance, for upgrades on the long SAA-carried LHR->JNB leg or the LH-carried FRA->BOS return. I instead got them by counter upgrades at LHR and FRA respectively.
At LHR I paid 875GBP to SAA for an upgrade from class S to C. I don't seem to have a receipt for that, just the boarding pass that indicates "Class: C/S" and the line item on my credit card statement, so no looking for the wording that's been mentioned here.
On the way back, at FRA I paid 899EUR to LH for the upgrade to C. I do have the card stock receipt for this, which says "Airport Upgrade M to C".
My MileagePlus earnings are showing both the SAA and LH in S, and just 5620 and 3670 miles respectively -- that is, 100% rather than 200% as expected for class C.
I did try calling the MileagePlus desk already but the agent I spoke to didn't fill me with confidence that he really knew what he was talking about, because he started off saying paid upgrades never get a bonus are always based on original class, but that's plainly wrong. I'm still left with the feeling that there was some sort of miscommunication about the proper class because it was counter upgrades on a partner airline. (It sure has made me really reluctant to bother with multi-carrier itineraries; the whole thing was just difficult to deal with.)
Since there was a non-trivial upgrade cost in each case I'm hoping they qualify for the extra PQMs. Does this seem to be an error, or are things as they should be?
Thanks in advance for any guidance.