Sep 21, 2016, 7:13 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
How to upgrade a partner flight using UA MileagePlus miles:
See UA's Star Alliance Upgrade Awards Page
Key points:
See this thread for the no-longer-available award chart (disappeared from united.com as of October 2018): https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...d-website.html
Error codes
For UA operated flights see Using Miles to Upgrade on United
Archive; How to upgrade with UA miles on Star Alliance carriers {Archive}
See UA's Star Alliance Upgrade Awards Page
Key points:
- Only a few fare classes (and expensive) are eligible -- depends on the carrier (see the UA page)
- Needs to be native flight numbers, codeshares are not eligible
- Generally no waitlisting but ANA allows waitlisting
- Most can be requested after ticketing (NH/ANA & ET cannot be requested earlier than 8 weeks to departure -- still true??) and must be done at least 24 hours prior to departure
- Max of 4 passengers can be upgraded
- Generally the available of award space is a good indicator of upgrade space (but not guaranteed) - typically requires (I) inventory
- Upgrade request can only be made electronically
- Upgrade requests are per segment
- It may increase your chance of success to request only one segment at a time on the upgrade page, even though it allows you to enter two (YMMV).
- For mileage requirements, see Interactive travel destinations awards chart
See this thread for the no-longer-available award chart (disappeared from united.com as of October 2018): https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...d-website.html
Error codes
- "We were unable to complete your request due to a technical problem. In the U.S. and Canada call 1-800-UNITED-1 (1-800-864-8331) within the U.S. or Canada, elsewhere use the local phone number. (Error code: 110).
- "We were unable to complete your request due to a technical problem. In the U.S. and Canada call 1-800-UNITED-1 (1-800-864-8331) within the U.S. or Canada, elsewhere use the local phone number. (Error code: 118)"
- "The traveler has the same name as an existing traveler on this flight. Please contact the operating airline for the required information and try again. (Error code: 384)"
- "Upgrade not available (Error code: 511)."
- "The number of travelers indicated does not match the number of passengers in the reservation. Please correct your information and try again. (Error code: 528)"
- "insufficient MileagePlus Balance (Error code: 2001)"
For UA operated flights see Using Miles to Upgrade on United
Archive; How to upgrade with UA miles on Star Alliance carriers {Archive}
How to upgrade with UA miles on Star Alliance carriers
Jan 14, 2022, 6:59 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 5,447
How to upgrade with UA miles on Star Alliance carriers
I just successfully upgraded an LX flight from U to I class. On the website, my PNR displays a red banner at the top saying: "A modification has been made to your itinerary. Please reach out to United Reservations or contact your travel agency to have your ticket reissued."
I've seen this exact banner/message when upgrading NH flights using PlusPoints, and each time I've asked the Twitter team to reissue the ticket, they've done it without fuss. This time, however, Twitter gave me some nonsense about an invalid fare class, and when I called in to ask for a reissue, the rates desk said that *A partner mileage upgrades don't actually need reissues, and that reissuing might in fact mess up the upgrade. They further reassured that LX has "confirmed the upgrade to UA," whatever that means (LX themselves did also send me email confirmation of the upgrade the minute it went through), and advised that I would have to check in at the airport.
Has anyone else run into this reissue dilemma, with LX or another airline, and if so, how did it turn out at check-in? Either way, I'm planning on showing up at the airport early with a printout of the confirmation email from LX in hand.
I've seen this exact banner/message when upgrading NH flights using PlusPoints, and each time I've asked the Twitter team to reissue the ticket, they've done it without fuss. This time, however, Twitter gave me some nonsense about an invalid fare class, and when I called in to ask for a reissue, the rates desk said that *A partner mileage upgrades don't actually need reissues, and that reissuing might in fact mess up the upgrade. They further reassured that LX has "confirmed the upgrade to UA," whatever that means (LX themselves did also send me email confirmation of the upgrade the minute it went through), and advised that I would have to check in at the airport.
Has anyone else run into this reissue dilemma, with LX or another airline, and if so, how did it turn out at check-in? Either way, I'm planning on showing up at the airport early with a printout of the confirmation email from LX in hand.
Jan 15, 2022, 8:24 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,017
Has not needed a re-issue in my experience. As long as Swiss.com shows this correctly, you can get seats etc. ... nothing IMO to worry about. The LH system 'usually' handles this fine.
Feb 2, 2022, 11:55 am
#3
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: UK
Programs: A3 *G
Posts: 349
Upgrading with miles fees
I am looking to upgrade on *A using united miles, I've never used them for upgrade but found a good Y fare deal on a LH route with plenty of J availability that I am considering buying, hence the basic question... Will there be any fees/taxes like there are with an outright purchase with miles? If so are they comparable? Or a fraction (half for example?), roughly speaking. Thanks!
Feb 2, 2022, 2:01 pm
#4
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,821
-- Most LH economy fares are not upgradeable with UA miles, for economy/premium economy purchases , it must be Y, B, E, G, M and U LH fare classes -- relatively expensive fares
-- The flight must be coded as a LH flight, not a UA codeshare
-- J availability does not mean upgradeability. Check for I space (or business award availability for the flight -- not 100% correlated but a promising indicatior)
-- Upgrade request can only be made electronically and (I believe) there is still no waitlisting for LH, so if not successful, you need to try again later
There are no co-pays or taxes but high fare requirements
Feb 2, 2022, 2:04 pm
#5
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, BA Gold, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,313
I was worried about this, but I had booked an AC ticket with an LH segment, and used UA miles to SAUA.
Then I had to cancel the booking.
The UA miles were returned immediately.
Then I had to cancel the booking.
The UA miles were returned immediately.
Feb 2, 2022, 2:40 pm
#7
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,821
With UA miles, nearly all of *A including LX, but with similiar high fare requirements
Feb 2, 2022, 3:19 pm
#8
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: IAH
Programs: Former UA1K transitioning to WFBF mentality
Posts: 778
With UA miles, nearly all of *A including LX, but with similiar high fare requirements
EDIT: LX pure J fare class seems prohibitively expensive, as in more expensive than discount first (A). I suppose I will be stuck with my ex-PRG 016 LX F tickets ...
EDIT2: as pointed out, J, C, and D qualify - thanks to dkc192!
Last edited by marks88; Feb 3, 2022 at 6:46 am Reason: update
Feb 2, 2022, 6:48 pm
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 5,447
Out of curiosity, has anyone managed to do this with LX? I'm curious because UA does not have access to LX F awards.
EDIT: LX pure J fare class seems prohibitively expensive, as in more expensive than discount first (A). I suppose I will be stuck with my ex-PRG 016 LX F tickets ...
EDIT: LX pure J fare class seems prohibitively expensive, as in more expensive than discount first (A). I suppose I will be stuck with my ex-PRG 016 LX F tickets ...
Feb 8, 2022, 8:43 am
#10
Join Date: Feb 2022
Posts: 1
Star alliance upgrade award error
Hi,
I'm trying to upgrade our Air Canada flight using Mileage plus miles on the Star Alliance upgrade award website but keep getting an error stating "traveler has the same name as an existing traveler on this flight"
I'm not understanding why this error is showing up .
We booked our flight directly on the AC website and used Aeroplan miles for it but would like to upgrade using mileage plus.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
I'm trying to upgrade our Air Canada flight using Mileage plus miles on the Star Alliance upgrade award website but keep getting an error stating "traveler has the same name as an existing traveler on this flight"
I'm not understanding why this error is showing up .
We booked our flight directly on the AC website and used Aeroplan miles for it but would like to upgrade using mileage plus.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Feb 8, 2022, 9:43 am
#11
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,821
Welcome to FT!, Neela828
Believe Star Alliance Upgrades are limited to paid flights, not award flights. Only paid fare classes are eligible.
Does AC allow award flight upgrades?
Does AC allow award flight upgrades?
Feb 17, 2022, 12:50 pm
#13
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,821
But only with miles (not with PlusPoints)
Not as a UA codeshare (needs to be a LX coded flight)
No waitlisting
and most importantly, only a few high LX fare classes (If in Business C, D and J. if in Economy class Y, B, M, and U)
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Feb 17, 2022 at 1:04 pm Reason: actually fare classes
Feb 24, 2022, 11:25 am
#14
Join Date: Oct 2018
Programs: United 1k, HH Diamond, Bonvoy Ambassador and LT-Gold
Posts: 1,655
Upgrade options for non-UA (Ethiopian) tatl flights as 1k
I apologize if this general topic has already been covered extensively and maybe somebody can point to the discussion. However I am a 1K sitting on a lot of unused plus points and an upcoming trip to Africa that will most likely involve Ethiopian Airlines flying over the Atlantic and connecting flight. As of now it looks like I will only be able to get an economy ticket from work but I am interested in upgrade options. Any advice would be appreciated
Feb 24, 2022, 11:32 am
#15
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,821
ET may offer a cash upgrade option.
If desiring to use UA currency, your only option is using UA miles on a high ET fare class -- called *A Mileage upgrade
Requires a Y, B or S ET economy fare, can not be a UA codeshare and no waitlisting so may take regular tries.
PlusPoints is not an option.
The wiki of this thread has more details
If desiring to use UA currency, your only option is using UA miles on a high ET fare class -- called *A Mileage upgrade
Requires a Y, B or S ET economy fare, can not be a UA codeshare and no waitlisting so may take regular tries.
PlusPoints is not an option.
The wiki of this thread has more details