I'm flying from Portland to Prague via Frankfurt, Budapest via Frankfurt to Portland next spring and have the option of taking either United or Lufthansa on the Frankfurt legs, and hopefully using miles to upgrade. Which airline has better service in Biz class and which airline is more likely to allow the upgrade?

This is likely to be a controversial topic. Also, upfront I'll admit that my experience with biz class travel on UA and LH is limited to only 2 occasions (once on UA, once on LH). Also Rudi is the one who is most qualified to answer this query but I'm putting my two cents worth in anyways.

Answer: Business-class service on LH was markedly better than UA.

one quick comment: make sure these are two different flights, or are just the same flight code-shared and listed under both UA and LH ?? if it's code-share...whichever airline/flight number you choose, you'll end up in the same flight anyway...and probably you'll want to choose between the two based on the frequent flyer program that you're in (e.g. elite bonus)...

My experience (not on that route) is that food and service is better on Lufthansa than United in both economy and business classes.

Though probably irrational, for some reason I have more confidence in german flight crews and service personnel than in US ones... In general, for two airlines of comparable quality, I'm rather temped to take the non-us one if given a choice such as yours. Non-us carriers simply serve fewer passengers, and better.

Essxjay:

On the Frankfurt-Prague leg, I think you must be talking about the LH3306 or UA3736 flights or the LH3310 or UA3738, which are both LH flights with UA as the code-share.

The same applies to the Budapest-Frankfurt leg. So it looks like you are stuck with Lufthansa whatever you do.

But I would be happy about that if I were you.

Regards,
MF

Megamiles: Fortunately, there are two different flights, depending on whether I want to fly out of ORD or IAD.

Merry Flyer: I should have been more specific about _Frankfurt_ leg I was referring to. I meant the stateside-Frankfurt legs -- the ones that really count! That last hour and half jaunt to Prague really isn't a huge concern for me, unless of course I have to fly British Midland again. Ugh.

Thanks all for your replies.

correction ...

my previous comment for megamiles should have been directed to tedhl. mea culpa.

I have flown Lufthansa both in coach and business class, both Trans-Atlantic and around Europe and if I were you, go Lufthansa.

UA is good in some aspects, but if you got
a chance to go Lufthansa do it. What FF program do you belong to? If it's either UA
or Lufthansa make sure you tell the agent which airline program you want credit for Point credits in these alliances can get tricky. CATMAN

(from the O'Hare Hilton business center)

You are probably a UA-Mileage-Plus member (and not a LH miles&more), are you?

After UA overdid all the transatlantic equipment (seats), I rate LH & UA qualitywise the same in business.

Upgrades: by principle, you can only upgrade (using miles, or international one/segment/upgrade/vouchers, or hope to be "voluntarily" upgraded at the gate, if Flight-number and actual carrier are the SAME. (ALL transatlantic/flights from LH and UA are code/share/flights, and with both carriers).

If you are only UA-mileage-plus-member (and not LH miles&more) you get your status/bonus (25% as Premier, 100% as PremEx) with both carriers on the transatlantic-segment but only with a UA/flight/number (but with difficultiers for correct credit atr the end .... but that's another story I reported extensively under the UA topic).

My opinion: Take LH. The new UA business class seats are the worst in the air. They are too narrow and have a high percentage of breaking (in my experience).

lufthansa, no contest.

after this last series of flights, I was really impressed with Lufthansa, except for four little niggles. 1--food choices a bit strange leaving Germany (roast goose, catfish or a vegetarian cabbage roll), 2--not very good desserts (definitely not any ice cream) 3--no brewed decaffeinated coffee (and no Starbucks anyway 4--what was that little thumbwheel on the side of the seat? Anyway, the planes I was on had the old seats, and they did not lack for anything, plus were an extra inch wider than United's. All that plus a 747 generally gives LH my vote.

FWIW, I recently flew UA's business from SCL - MIA (complementary upgrade), and ORD - MUC on LH's business. I really expected LH to outshine UA, based on previous trips, albeit in steerage. I found that UA's seats on the 777 were more comfortable than LH's 340, although that may be a little unfair, since UA just put in new seats. What really surprised me was the difference in the meals. On UA I had a very good steak dinner, whereas LH offered a barely passable mystery-fish entree. The staff on both flights were very attentive, without going overboard.

All in all, based on those two flights, I'd pick UA for a business class ticket, but YMMV.

Hmm. And I thought Lufthansa's economy seats were incredibly uncomfortable! I was comparing them to BA & Swissair... can't say I'd want to do a long flight on United in economy.