I was able to find 2 biz award space on August 25 from Shanghai to Paris on LH729 and LH1050. However, the agent told they can not be booked because these seats are not actually available on either flight. I have used United.com, Aeroplan.com, and NH engine to "confirm" the availability.

Does Aeroplan really have less access to the Star Alliance？

Or is this an inventory issue caused by Lufthansa?

Another interesting observation is that it shows zero availability on LH1050 when I searched FRA-CDG, but it shows available when I searched PVG-CDG. Is this some kind of married award redemption policy imposed by Lufthansa?

Thanks for sharing your opinions!

I've had the exact same problem with lufthansa inventory trying to book some intraeurope flights. What happened in my case was a bunch of flights were loaded in but nothing was bookable.

My Aeroplan agent had to escalate it and deal with lufthansa directly to get things ticketed on a flight that didn't show up in results.

I have seen this problem with inability to ticket an otherwise viable itinerary with LH or LX segment.

In my instance I was trying for YYC-DEN-EWR-MUC on UA connecting to MUC-ARN on LH. The LH segment would not ticket on either UA.com or via the phone.

I have learned from another FTer that LH and LX revenue management systems are configured with an over riding rule that reject low segment revenue. In my case I was trying for a UA issued ticket that was $1100 and LH rejected their portion of ticket. The fix was to book in a higher fare class for $1500 with the difference attributable to the LH segment.

My overall concern is that LH and LX revenue management system rules are creating a bait and switch scheme where the lower fare is offered, but can never be ticketted.

Also FYI

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-c...nsa-first.html

if it actually exists as availability, I have never had a problem with calling in and asking for it!

Unfortunately a common problem with LH on AE tickets I have experienced it numerous times. Check tomorrow though! They might release them. On few occasions I managed to grab F seat 72 hours prior to departure.