Lufthansa First Award seats availability [for partner FFPs outside of M&M]
Jun 2, 2012, 9:44 pm
#91
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: CGK/LAX
Programs: KF,JMB, OZ, SPG,AA,UA,AS
Posts: 1,163
I was able to book DFW-FRA about 10 days out in F. I was then able to swap for LAX-FRA about five days before the flight when it opened up. Had a great UA agent who did the swap in less than three minutes.
Jun 3, 2012, 2:42 pm
#92
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Europe & Indonesia
Programs: BAEC Gold, LH SEN, EK ex-Gold, IHG Plat
Posts: 11,571
AFAIK RM inventory recalc goes daily 7 days out. Before that its weekly. Note that east bound TATL inventory for LH flights is done by CO dba UA under the A+ agreement.
Non M&M cannot WL for awards, you'll have to grab any I inventory and monitor the situation. Phantom LH F availability on UA.com usually comes thru T-7/14 days and you can change your ticket (free if you have status on UA).
Non M&M cannot WL for awards, you'll have to grab any I inventory and monitor the situation. Phantom LH F availability on UA.com usually comes thru T-7/14 days and you can change your ticket (free if you have status on UA).
Jun 4, 2012, 1:22 am
#94
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 48,182
Some time ago UA & LH started to revenue share all their flights between north america and europe, under which LH filed all the fares westbound and did the capacity controls, UA did the same for eastbound flights. Last year this got expanded to include LH/UA/(CO)/(BD)/AC/OS/LX, the same control mechanism still apply.
Jun 4, 2012, 5:24 am
#96
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 48,182
UA does this since 1998, when you revenue share such deals are allowed, although LH has been much happier since UA started doing it with the CO software in 2010, the Apollo based revenue caclulation must have been a desaster in accuracy.
Jun 4, 2012, 6:29 am
#97
Senior Moderator, Moderator: Community Buzz and Ambassador: Miles & More (Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, and other partners)
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: 150km from MAN
Programs: LH SEN** HH Diamond
Posts: 29,513
Shouldn't LH let UA do all the capacity control not just for eastbound TATL flights? 
Going slightly OT but how come on the same TATL route UA fares are often lower than LH? At least they used to be, though I haven't noticed it recently.
Even more OT but as a consequence of the JV between LH and NH, discount Business fares on NH from the UK to Japan (via Germany) are now only slightly higher than LH/LX. Since all Business booking classes on NH seem to earn 200% M&M miles it could be a viable alternative even without the Executive Bonus of 25% and you are guaranteed fully-flat seats (as long as you don't fly via MUC). ^ These fares don't apply ex-LHR presumably because the JV is between Germany and Japan but without MAN-LHR *A flights
there's no incentive for me to fly via LHR anyway.
Going slightly OT but how come on the same TATL route UA fares are often lower than LH? At least they used to be, though I haven't noticed it recently.
Even more OT but as a consequence of the JV between LH and NH, discount Business fares on NH from the UK to Japan (via Germany) are now only slightly higher than LH/LX. Since all Business booking classes on NH seem to earn 200% M&M miles it could be a viable alternative even without the Executive Bonus of 25% and you are guaranteed fully-flat seats (as long as you don't fly via MUC). ^ These fares don't apply ex-LHR presumably because the JV is between Germany and Japan but without MAN-LHR *A flights
there's no incentive for me to fly via LHR anyway.
Jun 4, 2012, 6:47 am
#98
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 48,182
hmm... you have to be more specific. The booking classes should be in synch, as is the availability. The fares are a little different to account for the different YQ calculation logic, leading to the same end price though...
Jun 4, 2012, 7:48 am
#99
Senior Moderator, Moderator: Community Buzz and Ambassador: Miles & More (Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, and other partners)
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: 150km from MAN
Programs: LH SEN** HH Diamond
Posts: 29,513
It was at least a couple of years back but when I saw bargain fares in Y advertised for UK-US via Germany, the lowest fare was almost always on UA metal. Now the price seems to be more or less the same, but it didn't use to be.
Jun 9, 2012, 3:33 pm
#100
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: In thin air
Programs: UA
Posts: 293
Approximate recalc time?
AFAIK RM inventory recalc goes daily 7 days out. Before that its weekly. Note that east bound TATL inventory for LH flights is done by CO dba UA under the A+ agreement.
Non M&M cannot WL for awards, you'll have to grab any I inventory and monitor the situation. Phantom LH F availability on UA.com usually comes thru T-7/14 days and you can change your ticket (free if you have status on UA).
Non M&M cannot WL for awards, you'll have to grab any I inventory and monitor the situation. Phantom LH F availability on UA.com usually comes thru T-7/14 days and you can change your ticket (free if you have status on UA).
I have my eastbound seats. I am checking constantly for westbound F - which appears to show up 13 days out.
Jun 9, 2012, 3:50 pm
#101
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: GRR, USA
Posts: 3,298
Any idea the time the recalc inventory goes out? e.g. Is it midnight FRA time? or does it matter when the "UA computer" updates it? e.g. after midnight CDT? I have noticed new scattered F and C TATL inventory appearing around 10 pm MDT and early mornings.
I have my eastbound seats. I am checking constantly for westbound F - which appears to show up 13 days out.
I have my eastbound seats. I am checking constantly for westbound F - which appears to show up 13 days out.
Jun 9, 2012, 6:21 pm
#102
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 101
Thanks
Jun 9, 2012, 6:30 pm
#103
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: GRR, USA
Posts: 3,298
This is definitely a "YMMV" experience and you may need to call back a couple of times or more to find a willing agent (or one that knows how to do it). I've had the best luck with the reps in UA's Hawaii call center. They seem to have their act together out there!
Its worked for both C and F seats for me this year.
Jun 10, 2012, 3:13 am
#104
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 48,182
Long sell will get you the phantom seat you see online. However finding a *A FFP agent to do it for you is tricky, US DM agents have been clearly instructed not to do it. Longsell is fairly tricky to enter, an example in amadeus is shown in this video around 2:40: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wIo0...feature=colike
What does AFAIK stand for?