Upgrading to LH Premium Econ. or Business if purchased coach with miles?
Aug 29, 2017, 9:21 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2017
Programs: United MileagePlus - Premier Gold, Star Alliance Gold, World of Hyatt Explorist, Avis Preferred Plus
Posts: 141
Upgrading to LH Premium Econ. or Business if purchased coach with miles?
Recently booked ORD-ATH with LH for 60,000 UAL miles. Does anyone know if I'm eligible to purchase a premium economy or business class seat with cash?
Aug 29, 2017, 9:51 am
#2
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: USA, France
Programs: LH HON*****, AF/KL Gold; HHilton Diamond; Marriott Gold; IHG Platinium; Avis PresClub
Posts: 930
Simple answer: No, awards are not upgradable. You only could modify your booking to PE or C and pay the additional miles and the change fee.
Aug 29, 2017, 10:50 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2017
Programs: United MileagePlus - Premier Gold, Star Alliance Gold, World of Hyatt Explorist, Avis Preferred Plus
Posts: 141
Will definitely inquire at check-in for availability. Can't imagine LH refusing to sell a seat if its empty just before the flight, although I can understand them refusing to sell you the seat weeks/months in advance as they'd want to charge someone the full value of any premium seat.
Aug 29, 2017, 10:58 am
#5
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Colorado, US
Programs: LH Senator BA Silver
Posts: 162
It's true that you may be able to purchase a better seat in the Economy cabin, but it's also very true that award tickets are not upgradable to another cabin without spending the additional miles. They will indeed, gladly keep a PE or J cabin seat empty rather than dilute the integrity of the award ticket system or, of course, the fare structure for paying customers.
Aug 29, 2017, 11:08 am
#6
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 4,859
It's true that you may be able to purchase a better seat in the Economy cabin, but it's also very true that award tickets are not upgradable to another cabin without spending the additional miles. They will indeed, gladly keep a PE or J cabin seat empty rather than dilute the integrity of the award ticket system or, of course, the fare structure for paying customers.
You can bid on upgrades for 220 award tickets as much as you like, and for non-LH tickets, they will sell an upgrade to PE or C on day of departure for a fixed sum.
Aug 29, 2017, 11:25 am
#7
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Colorado, US
Programs: LH Senator BA Silver
Posts: 162
Hmm...good to know. Maybe I should stop buying my F tickets! But then again, I don't want to leave anything to chance. So, it's all good I suppose.
Aug 29, 2017, 2:22 pm
#8
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 4,859
I think F upgrade are a bit more restricted. And of course they calculated it high enough not to cannibalize revenue tickets, so the upgrade route is often not worth it if you can shop around for a ticket in the desired cabin.
Aug 30, 2017, 12:43 pm
#9
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Nr. Zurich
Programs: LH SEN, IHG Platinum, Marriott Lifetime Gold
Posts: 1,610
Aug 31, 2017, 2:28 am
#10
Suspended
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: PVG, FRA, SEA, HEL
Programs: UA Premier Gold
Posts: 4,783
Recently booked ORD-ATH with LH for 60,000 UAL miles. Does anyone know if I'm eligible to purchase a premium economy or business class seat with cash?
