Originally Posted by
downinit
If the price is the same or close, always book with the operating carrier. In case of IRROPS, you will be in a much better position to reschedule flights if you booked via LH. Booking an LH flight via UA means that you will be at the mercy of whatever seats LH makes available to UA, and the flights you may want to get on may not be open to the agent from UA who will be rebooking your flight. Also, online seat selection on LH-group flights is a bit of a mess, and there is a very good chance you will NOT be able to select/change seats on the LH website/app if you book via UA (you will definitely not be able to select LH seats on the UA website). The miles earned are based on the airline you are flying on and the fare bucket of the ticket, so booking the same fare code will earn the same miles, regardless of where you book the flight. You will also not be eligible to bid for an upgrade on LH if you booked via UA.
Absolutely
none of any of this!
You have multiple avenues during irops. UA is not limited to 'the mercy of LH at all', they have a JV TATL and I have never ever had an issue re-booking during irops.
Online seat selection is routinely available on lufthansa.com or through the LH app. There are rare cases where you have to call to get seat assignments, but for regular tickets that is almost never needed.
The miles are absolutely NOT based on the airline you are flying or the fare bucket. This is completely nonsense. If you book with United you will earn based on 5-11x fare, even if your flights are (all) LH operated.
You can also absolutely 100% bid for upgrades on 016 United tickets. Where did you hear that tale? You need LH flight numbers for flights that you wish to upgrade and you can get these either by using goggle flights in many cases ... or call after you purchase the ticket and ask UA to convert to native LH flight numbers ... tell them you want to upgrade ... they know what to do.
Book on united ... in almost all scenarios the much better choice.