Originally Posted by alexostra

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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 --> MUC 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!...