Originally Posted by
spin88
(1) to figure out what the hell my "BASIC ECONOMY" fare is I should not have to read that entire thing, which is directed at travel agents. That you can't show me something easily findable on UA's consumer web-site explaining what the hell UA is doing, is a problem. (2) Even reading what you send me for travel agents, I don't find an answer for what I wanted to know which is "as a UA Gold/PLT, can I book E+ seats" It says "no premium cabin upgrades" and not "instrument upgrades", say like LH I can get a baggage fee waiver, but no clear answer of whether I can get an E+ seat...
By having so many odd gotcha rules that someone who has flown 2MM on UA, and 5MM total, can't figure out what the hell UA is selling me, is really setting up UA for unhappy customers. I just don't get this level of grief flying any other airline.
(1) You don't have to read that; the same information is present in several other places, including the Wiki to this very thread.
(2) No, E+ benefits are not included in a BE fare, just like they're not included in a Lufthansa light fare, because
they're the same thing.
From the FAQ I linked (not the travel agent document) -- which is easily available from the consumer web site:
Q: Will I be able to choose a seat when I purchase a Basic Economy ticket?
A: When purchasing a Basic Economy ticket, you will not receive a complimentary seat assignment but may be able to purchase advance seat assignments during booking and up until check-in opens. If you don’t purchase an advance seat assignment, your seat will be automatically assigned to you prior to boarding, and you won't be able to change your seat once it's been assigned.
Q: Can I purchase an Economy Plus® seat with a Basic Economy ticket?
A: No, customers with Basic Economy tickets are not eligible to purchase Economy Plus seating. Also, MileagePlus Premier® members will not be eligible for complimentary Economy Plus seating.
You're blaming United for a problem you encountered while attempting to buy a codeshared flight on the LH website. That's not something that most of their passengers will ever do. If you attempt to purchase BE on the United website, you'll get a very obvious message that explains it pretty well. Your issue here is with Lufthansa, because they failed to explain what you were buying and they didn't do a very good job of allowing you to purchase a sensible alternative.
Look, I hate BE. I hate domestic BE; I hate international BE. I hate paying more than the lowest allowable fare; I hate the idea of having to pay a surcharge
atop a W fare in order to use a GPU. So, I'm not really defending them, and I agree that they've given themselves unnecessary trouble by naming two similar-but-not-identical products the same way. But these
particular criticisms have little to do with UA.