mauld

Yes indeed, and that is the rub. As the UA agent directed me, on certain UA pages it does allow for a UA 'W' booked flight (for which I did pay in excess of $800 US 3 months ago, so not the absolute cheapest) to upgrade with a SWU paper cert. She did inform me to print out the page in case there were issues or problems. And looking through various LH & UA forum topics there seems to be lots & lots of problems with this upgrade issue.

As for it being oversold in Y, I'm not sure, just that I was told it was oversold in Business Class-- both this am & at check in at 3pm. But looking at the seating chart, I did see there was lots of availabilty in F. In fact, at noon today it appeared only one F seat was taken. So from that I can guess, that some lucky C class passengers were upgraded to F???

flysurfer

With C was oversold at boarding time, you wouldn't sit there, now. If you got the seat from a pax who upgraded to F, chances are that he paid 50,000 miles for this privilege. Btw, a one-way upgrade from coach to Business costs costs 50,000 M&M miles, too, and it's only available for V class or higher. Then again, we all know "LH hates UA elites", right?

Also, the rules that count are those printed on the certificate. However, if you insist on consulting online reading matter, there's an official page on ual.com explaining the upgrade rules for certificates. It's http://www.united.com/page/article/0,1360,50027,00.html. And it clearly says: "1a. Lufthansa Standby: This upgrade may be used on a standby basis, subject to availability, on the day of travel on any eligible Lufthansa flight in accordance with the terms and conditions of this certificate, except when booked in LH booking classes X, I, R, N, W, S and E. In addition L and T fares are also excluded for Intra-Europe flights." Pretty much the same restriction as the one on the printed certificate.

Flying Lawyer

No more SWU upgrade on LH.... Another very nice countermeasure. And for sure no champagne in any lounge. Even not when tipping the lounge warden...

Flymaster, why do all the UA guys love to fly on crappy LH with wonderful UA tickets? And why don't they use their SWUs on splendid UA flights over the pond?

Flying Lawyer

Ok, lets try to explain it the easy way: The Bank of England promises to pay 10 GBP upon presentation of a 10 Pound note. ok? You find that language on each and every English bank note. On some webpage you find a hint that the Bank of England pays 20 Pound upon presentation of the note. May I assume that you walk into the next commercial bank in downtown New York and ask for 20 Pound???

Certainly not.

The language on the note is as clear as the language on the SWU and there should have been no reason to argue about. But as the possibility to use SWUs on LH will be abolished shortly, no more reason to discuss on that.

WindFlyer

Really?

...or is this like the subject of this thread

andre1970

Good point. I appreciate it when they do

demue

Quite agree. I fly regularly out of SIN and the SATS Premier lounges are quite decent in T1 (newly refurbished) and T2 in regards to drinks and food offerings though not like the SilverKris lounge. Maybe some SEN lounges in FRA and MUC and ??? are better but the SATS ones are fairly decent IMHO. Not sure when some people have been there for the last time but both have been updated in recent years. Yes, even SQ*G (when not PPS) go to the SATS Premier lounges and check-in at a special *G row so at least SQ is consistent in treating everyone the same unlike UA in this case.

flysurfer

I think that now that UA is part of the *A upgrade scheme, that MP perk might indeed vanish. Especially after UA took away E+ for *G. It simply doesn't fit into the overall picture, anymore. Which is unfortunate, because I liked those SWUs.

Basically, the opportunity to use a cheap SWU on V (or even W!!) class to upgrade any LH flight was worth at least as much to 1Ks as E+ to SENs. Of course, our friends at the UA board never even mentioned this special reciprocity, I guess they took the use of SWUs on LH for granted.

However, I really doubt that this is gonna stay when LH has completed their refit to new C in 2007, with new F on the horizon, etc.

Hey, don't forget the awful rumors that there won't be any M&M awards and upgrades into the new F class! If 50,000 LH miles can't do the job, how is a SWU from another FFP supposed to do it?

WindFlyer

...on the basis of the *A upgrade scheme, I see that SWUs may stay for transatlantic�after all, UA and LH work hard to make transatlantic travel as 'interchangeable' as possible between the two carriers.

But who knows. I certainly did enjoy the SWUs, particulary for getting into a real F cabin

flysurfer

Just like in Hollywood, nobody knows anything.

weero

I confirm - mauld - that The Flymaster is very, very strick.
But he also is quite, quite right this time that you pushed the envelope a bit
far in your favour. Each single offense might go through as '1K not knowing how
LH works' but the clustering demonstrates an elaborate attack in order to get
services not deserved .
Why do you blame The Flymaster for that wrongful assumption? I certainly use
my SWUs almost exclusively to upgrade UA flights. Have not burnt a printed SWU
for LH in two years now.
Ok, The Flymaster himself does so .. but he's not really a 'UA folks' himself, he
just got a 1K card ... somehow.

Flying Lawyer

My friend, I don't blame him, I asked a rhetorical question and the answer on the North Atlantic route is pretty obvious.

And you?

Ok, even if LH-Y is somehow like a convicts' transportation it is somehow difficult for you to enjoy it from OZ, ain't it?

weero

G'Day Flying Lawyer
Not to me: confirmed upgrade on an unlimited number of segments vs. standby
upgrade against competing SENs and HONs .. I'd (nearly) always go for the UA option!
After all - as you know - if I flew the brand new A380 .. that would be the single
one in the fleet that sported the old C due to .. put dubious reason here.
I understand The Flymaster as he upgrades from C->F, so even if his plans
fail, he'll still enjoy a flat-ish seat. But UA folks buying V (or W more recently)
and praying for a last second move-up to the coveted new C? I find that
too much of a wager.
Convict deportation from Oz? That's streching it a bit .
But actually the LH sales office in SYD is really good. They offer cheapo D
and Z fares ex. Oz and - unlike UA Sydney - make an effort to get you a seat
on those birds.

SFOtoORD

Why is retribution so important to you?

Do you even definitively know how the UA SWUs on LH transaction works? It may be baked enough into the revenue sharing agreement with UA that it does not cause a financial hit to LH to do the upgrade.

weero

I reckon that has to be true - printed SWUs only get up-ed when no M&L status
member opts to waste a gazillion miles (or even cash) on an upgrade.
It basically saves LH from handing out any op-ups and comes at a price of a
premium class meal. Which would have gone unused without the upgrade anyway.
The more constant load might hence come at no food cost whatsoever and might
give LH a chance to sell a few more Y seats to 1K and their sponsored ones
and maybe quite a few Z fares for those in the vane hope of getting an F
seat from which they would be positively barred on UA.