Hi all,

I've looked through a few different threads on here, but haven't been able to find a clear 'escalation path' for the following: a few weeks ago I found a solid deal from SFO <--> LIS, with SFO --> FRA --> LIS being fully operated by LH and the return flight LIS --> MUC --> SFO being operated by LH for the first leg (with a UA flight number), and the second leg operated by UA directly. I purchased the ticket through UA directly and it was issued without any hang up.

To look at seats ahead of time, I go to Lufthansa's site and use their record locator -- no problem. I see an option to upgrade flights, with the SFO --> FRA upgrade going for around $700. I referenced UA's site for the same ticket in P class and it's significantly more than what I paid + the upgrade fee -- score!

Once the upgrade was processed through LH I notice that there are sync errors and that I now had a duplicate segment, one in economy, one in business. After a day or two the issue resolves itself and both the UA and LH sites reflect the updated fare class. Though the fare class was updated and a seat assigned for the upgrade, I now see the red banner: "A modification has been made to your itinerary. Please reach out to United Reservations or contact your travel agency to have your ticket reissued."

I gave UA a call to see what this was about and they said that the upgrade was another $1400 and needed to be collected. I explain that the upgrade was done through LH directly and that I have a receipt from them. Looking at LH's site I see that all segments are confirmed. The agent mentioned that an upgrade shouldn't have been possible since LH didn't issue the original ticket. The agent then checked with the pricing desk and said that the system is out of sync and that LH added a note to the reservation saying that "they will cancel the upgrade if we don't properly update the ticket". They suggest that I give LH a call to get this sorted out and ensure that nothing is being cancelled.

I've tried calling LH and have looked at their support app, in addition to other travelers reports on trying to get in contact with them -- it seems like it's an absolute nightmare. The flight isn't for another few months, so I am not particularly in a rush to resolve the issue, but I do want to make sure I don't show up to the airport and find myself unable to start my trip.

TL;DR: I booked a mixed LH/UA ticket through UA. I did a paid upgrade through LH directly. UA now says the ticket needs to be re-issued and everything is out of sync.

I'd really appreciate any input in how I should proceed here. Should I give UA another call? Should I wait for LH to cancel? Should I sit on hold forever, waiting for LH?