The new 2003 SWU rules
 

unixone posted a scan of the new 2003 1K SWU's and these are valid standby on any fares exept those in X,I,O,R,N,E http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif This is just incredibly dumb of LH, IMHO. UA restrcits its certificates to C,Y,B,M,H and LH lets everybody in! Plus, the SEN certificates on UA will probably only be valid if the flight is booked in C,Y,B,M,H. This means that you can upgrade on LH from D to F for just $300 by buying an SWU on EBay! I'm extremely mad about this!

I always thought that LH sees its F/Cl as something special and relatively expensive: you either had to earn status on M&M to benefit from the SEN vouchers or you had to burn miles. Now you just log on to EBay... This means probably fuller F cabins to North America and definitely full C cabins http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mad.gif

Bad,bad move LH...

[This message has been edited by curt (edited 01-28-2003).]

Hmm, I agree. I can't understand that a UA cert is valid only on some fares on UA but on mostly all fares on LH. And I can't understand that those certs are still transferable.

I really hope that only a few of those SWU's find their way to a new owner via ebay...

I find it strange too.

Our SEN-status gives us 2 Upgrade certificates each 100K miles. And we need both to upgrade one Intercontinental sector.

Instead - now I will collect mileage on my UA Premier Ex card, and get 100K on that, giving 6 of these Systemwide certificates.

Would have had to collect 600.000 LH miles for the same........

And you get 200% Mileage on UA and LH Economy flights...... (LH; Germany-US)

And maybe they will even be valid for 2 segment upgrades - i.ex. BKK-FRA-GRU ?

From what I have read - it will only be on a "standby basis" - giving the UPG certificates from M&M some more value.......

*********************************************
Edit.... - stupid error, would need to collect 600.000 miles on LH.....
*********************************************


[This message has been edited by Norway_Asia (edited 01-28-2003).]

Do all international LH flights apply to the new SWU rule ?
Can one use the SWU, on a standby basis of course, on LH flights to Asia or SA ?
IMO upgrading FRA-CGK is far more valuable than LHR-IAD on UA.

So I read the scan, they are valid on any LH international flight on [any] paid booking class (just award and employee classes are excluded).

That's indeed the wording on the scan. International # Intercontinental (what should be meant)!?

does anyone know if they are good for one segment only, or one way? BKK-FRA-GRU is a nice example Norway-Asia!!!

It is supposedly intercontinental. Why would one use a SWU on an intra-Europe trip anyway ?!!!

I consider the "stand-by"-only rule a severe (and understandable) restriction vs. the SEN certificates.

someone said something about buying a SWU on ebay. Is that really possible? Dont they have passenger names printed on them?

someone said something about buying a SWU on ebay. Is that really possible? Dont they have passenger names printed on them?

most of these UA SWU (for 1K) have the 1K member (and his MileagePlus number) imprinted, but at the same time these vouchers say (small print on the backside): "certificate is transferable“

It is possible to buy these upgrades on e-bay, but UA would be allowed (... if they find out ...) to void such vouchers, because the small print also says: “void if bought or sold".

...or bartered.
most people on eBay sell an envelope and donate the SWU as a gift to make the transaction (kind of) legal!

Which voids all SWU trades on the coupon connection as well, if one goes by the words.

Yes Peter,
but who cares at this volume of trades on the Coupon Connection. And it is for FTers - that should be permitted! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

being back from hot Australia to freezing Switzerland, having started to recover from ta lot of Champagne in the Singapor Airlines first-class lounge in Melbourne (courtesy of ozstamps , while myself flying the MEL-SIN only in eco ...), I started to read through many posts covering this issue, and I come to the conclusions that probably:

• you can use UA SWU on LH flights (not sure if it must be UA flight number then, or if code-shares count too) on practically any fully paid fare (LH miles&more rules allow upgrading with vouchers or miles on all paid fares).
• at check-in only = standby (but many times, more often than not, LH transatlantic business or first was not 100% full in the past 24 months)
• not sure yet if this upgrade possibilty with UA SWU on LH flights also applies to non-transatlantic LH flights (like Europe - South Africa or Europe - Asia)
• not sure (yet) if such a SWU upgrade will cover more than one segment (as it does on UA flights, as long as no stop-over). LH upgrade vouchers do only cover one flight-number (can be more than one segment).