mknoebel

We are looking at options for an upcoming trip to London. First option is to book directly with Air Canada. I know that I can put in my United Mileage Plus number and earn United miles by doing this. Second option is booking with United, but flying on Lufthansa there and Air Canada on the way home. This option is slightly more expensive.

Even though I am silver, I have never flown on any of the partners, so a few questions:

Are there advantages/disadvantages with either of these options?
Will I be able to choose seats ahead of time with either of these options? (I am flying with my wife and would like to make sure we sit together)
Will the mileage earned be any different?

Thanks in advance.

flyerbaby19

As a silver, I'd recommend flying whatever airline/alliance has the best price and schedule. I don't see any reason staying on Star Alliance (if it's a worse schedule or price) to earn a couple miles would in any way be useful.

findark

(note: I'm assuming you're looking to travel in Economy class)

I've generally heard bad things about AC Y. That being said, I'm not sure LH Y is all that much better, although I think they generally have wider equipment (747, 388, other Airbus).

Generally, not for free. AC charges a seat selection fee on discount Economy fares, as does LH. If ticketed on a UA/LH codeshare, there are further issues as LH has trouble collecting payment on an 016 ticket.

However, because many pax do not select seats in advance due to fees, your chances of getting two seats together on a complimentary basis are very high. They might not be great seats, but you'll probably still be together.

If you book via United, you will receive PQDs and RDMs which are 7x your fare. If you book via Air Canada, you will receive zero PQDs and RDMs as a percentage of the distance. Your PQM earning (100% of the distance) will the same in both cases.

If possible, I would look for options on United metal, where you Silver status would get you Economy Plus, or consider paying for Premium Economy on AC or LH, both of which are substantially superior products to UA E+.

Kacee

As a Silver, I would probably lean towards UA, where I could reserve seats in advance for free, with the possibility of moving up to economy plus 24 hours prior to departure. For the most comfortable economy seats, look for flights on the 767-300, which have a 2-3-2 configuration.

mduell

OP is not considering any UA metal options. I fear your post will only confuse him into booking OAL on UA ticket stock.

l etoile

Please follow this in the Star Alliance forum.

l'etoile
UA moderator

Kacee

That's a fair point. So just to be clear, to OP:

Have you considered flying United instead of Lufthansa or Air Canada? Star Alliance Silver will get you nothing meaningful on those airlines; it will get you free economy plus seating on United.

mknoebel

Thanks for the advise all. The main reason I was looking at AC or LH is because the price of their flights was quite a bit less than on United. So I'm weighing the price vs the benefits of silver.

Kacee

If you're looking at a YYZ connection to LHR, be careful, AC flies their 77W HD on that route, with 398 Y seats. It is very much to be avoided.

zeer0

I flew on the AC high density 777 on a 14 hour flight from YVR to HKG, and it wasn't too bad, both in an exit row and normal row. It won't be significantly worse than most other Y options on a short hop to Europe.

On the topic of silver benefits, UA is ironically one of the few (only) airlines to recognize partner *S, and gives all the Premier Access benefits to them. I can't think of any other *A carrier that has benefits for partner *S.

Kacee

You are AC's target market then. Couldn't pay me to fly that aircraft in Y.

mknoebel

FYI... it is an Airbus A330 from Montreal to London, and a 787-9 from London to Calgary coming back.

zeer0

I'm actually willing to go out of my way from now on to fly AC Y because they're one of the few to give *G's preferred seating at OLCI. That alone puts them ahead of just about every other *A carrier in Y.

zeer0

A330 is usually a comfortable ride if you're in the 2 on the side. 787 and 777 are about equal.

dvs7310

OZ gives some benefit to *S also. I know for certain they get Priority Baggage and I believe priority boarding as well.