artdiam

hello fellow Senators.
yesterday on FRA IAD lh416 Y overbooked by 10 pax.
C had about 6 empty seats. I was surprised to see the gate agents up grading pax without any status , while myself + two more senators standing and looking . we went to ask the agent at the gate why non status pax are being upgraded and we do not.
she answered with big smile "no more automatic UPG to senators"
we UPG the highest fair tickets.
when I asked her what's the logic here ? if I paid $100 less today but I fly this route on LH 12 times a year , and spend with LH over $30,000 annually .
is it fair to UPG pax that buys 1 ticket per year rather then their most loyal customers ?
her answer was you can upgrade with miles !!!!!!!!!!!

I have SEN status till 2016. but after yesterdays experience I have decided to move my BIZ to UA , I do 120 k status miles annually and if LH do not appreciate that , they will not see my $$$$$

have a great day.

pilatusguy

There has never been a "automatic upgrade to senators", don't mistake M&L for a american FFP.
For a while now, LH's upgrade priority is 1. booking class 2. status. If you do a search, there's plenty of threads about this.

Assuming that you made it in one piece even though you had to fly the class you actually paid for?

NewbieRunner

Welcome to FT, artdiam!

The topic has been discussed on FT for some time now, for example:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...e-buckets.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...ing-class.html

However, some recent posts in this thread contradict this:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...08-2011-a.html

and LH Lurkers have also provided some interesting responses in their thread, for example post #11, #17, #24, #31, #77.

RTW1

Good luck flying discounted eco on the competition is most likely what LH is thinking.....

Your SEN status has probably gotten you the choice of the best seats in economy, so you already got a bit more than you paid for. And with a bit of luck (not on an overbooked flight of course) you might get an empty seat next to you. So status is not useless....

Viennafly

May I ask in which booking class your ticket was?

Also how do you know that the pax that were upgraded did not have any status?

Alternatively, it is also possible that these were not op-ups, but regular upgrades with miles or evouchers that were waitlisted and cleared upon closing of the check-in. From outside, these upgrades look like op-ups (pax is paged to come to the counter, receives a new boarding pass, smiles happily ...)

HKG1111

welcome to FT and reality of LH. Management made the decision that short term money goes before customer loyalty. Every company can do what they like and the good thing is that we customers have more than one choice. I have my first EK flight in 2 weeks.

Moreover I am happy that LX was able to escape the LH new direction and still upgrade Status before booking class. Let's see for how long. As I fly more LX than LH these days, the LX team on the ground and in the air real values HON status and tries all what they can do.

flyingfkb

The major factor for revenue control at LH is your booking class. So an full fare economy passenger with no status will be treated better than a senator flying the lowest economy fare.

And by the way due to your SEN status you got the second highest priority (only HONs have higher priority) to get a seat which means in your case you hadn't to worry to get unloaded while somebody with no status on a cheap fare might get left behind.

weero

Which American FFP dishes out complimentary intl upgrades?

And which one still prioritizes status over fare paid? AAdvantage comes to mind but that seems to be about it.

LHSEN

I've been a SEN for 15 years, last I got an op up from LH was about 10 years ago; most op ups I go have been from non-LH group star carriers ... But then, I always tell myself, do not expect to get more than you paid for.

SMK77

Doesn't make much sense to quote 'contradicting' and 'interesting' responses, the OP's summary is correct: upgrades are strictly by booking class and then within the booking class by status.

For business, all J tickets get upgraded first, after that all C ticket, after that all D tickets. In Economy, Y tickets come first, then tickets in B.

If they need one-up up with a Blue in J and a HON in C, the blue member gets the upgrade.

flying_student

Brilliant idea! Lufthansa still gets your $$$

Forrest Bump

Not only LH upgrades for booking classes, but some discounted Y fares (FWIK at least E,K, L,T,) are kept out of the discretionary decision of GAs.

A380*G

In what way does LH get the bucks if OP flies UA? Mean through a JV?

RTW1

They have a revenue sharing agreement for trans atlantic flights....

A380*G

Yes I know and that's why I referred to the JV.....