ual uprade vs miles & more upgrades
 

quick and simple question:

where is it easier to upgrade (UAL or Miles and More) and how many miles do they require? as an UAL top tier how many miles for upgrading on a long haul Lufthansa flight? even though i live in europe i'm considering shifting all my business to untited as amercian airlines in general tend to be very generous with coupons etc....is Miles & More competitive with UAL's prgram?

i do live in europe and will certianly fly more on Lufthansa than United.

i believe star alliance has unified miles for upgrading depending on the routes

If you fly star alliance 100,000 miles or more you get six system wide upgrades that are good for international travel on United and Lufthansa. In addition to the six SWU you will earn 500 mile upgrades and regional upgrades that are only good within USA.

The United System Wide Upgrades are only valid on a standby option on Lufthansa flights. You will need to get a paper coupon first from United (they are electronic coupons) and then you can try to get a standby upgrade.

can you please tell me how easy it is to upgrade on lufthansa? i know they ask for many more miles than united, however, it is easier to accrue miles on lufthansa as well. i just can't decide whether to switch fully to united (due to the six systmewide upragdes as oppsed to LH's two) or switch completely to miles & more. i live in barcelona and fly allot to south america, north america and a little to asia.

Using LH Miles & More miles to upgrade is extremely expensive - in most cases you'd be better off getting an award for the higher class (similar number of miles as the upgrade).

No they dont. However *A is rolling out the ability to upgrade on all *A airlines using all *A FFPs' miles. The amounts will vary between schemes though.

I belive now that LH can access the UA electronic SWU directly and deduct them (standby only). To upgarde with Miles, you do need to obtain the paper coupons. That does not make alot of sense, but go figure!

so you are all basically suggesting i go with uniteds 1k even though most of my flights will be in lufthansa? i know this sounds crazy, but in terms of most upgrades on a big european carrier i think this will be the best way. you agree?

btw.: this forum is amazing!!!!

FYI, you still need to get a paper certificate to use a United systemwide upgrade on LH.

Also, you only accumulate 500-miler upgrades for domestic use by flying United.

There is an excellent frequently-asked-questions file in the United forum of this site, which I highly recommend.