United Z Class, Zero Points?
 

I just checked my Spanair balence after a recent business class LHR-SFO return and found I recieved a grand total of zero points!

Not too happy as I was looking forward to Star Silver after this trip. On checking with Spanair I was told that UA reckon this class (or fare class) is ineligible. A quick check on United website show Z class as a discounted business eligible for points... the ticket was purchased by company travel centre so could it be that it is ineligible for points due to company discount?

Any thoughts/insights appreciated. Luckily San Francisco was worth the trip!!

Spanir FF program rules
 

As Spanair is your FF program their rules apply. If Spanair say a UA Z class is worth no points that is it. What the same UA flight may earn on the UA FF program is irrelevant.

Thanks Mwenenzi but Spanair say the no points on that ticket comment is coming from UA! I guess what I need to know is why UA have a problem with Z class tickets so I can argue my case... anyone have an idea?

Go to the SpanAir website and go into the SpanAir Plus page for the FFP. In the menu on the left side you can choose the 'Simulador', or Simulador de acumulation en vuelos. There you choose (a) the airline, (b) the origin and (c) the destination. It then brings up a list of all the booking classes and how many points you get for each. Putting 'United', 'London' and 'San Fran' in the appropriate (a) (b) (c) above, this Simulador says that for a Z fare you should get 2650 puntos (each way). You might want to bring this to the attention of whomever you're dealing with at SpanAir. :)

cheers,

Henry

Thanks for the tip Henry.. I confirmed it and went back to Spanair. They have been able to confirm that United are the problem saying that although Z class qualifies for points the ticket is "CLASE DE VUELO NO VALIDA / NON REVENUE INDICATOR" which seems to me to point to some kind of issue with the fare, this leg of the trip cost ~€2,500 BTW.

I am going to check with the corporate travel centre about the ticket but any insights from the board appreciated.

it does indeed sound like a consolidated/negotiated fare, which can cause no end of problems with some carriers regarding crediting of miles.
Fare is rather high for a published Z class fare. Published Z class return fares on LHR-SFO on UA are in the region of GBP2200+tax (fare basis ZLAP3M).

FWIW, United's rules for mileage on Z fares posted to UA FF program are:

100% "redeemable" miles, no class of service bonus - That means you earn the miles flown but no 25% bonus for business class that you would earn on full fare (C or D) biz.

150% credit for EQM's - these are the miles that count toward elite levels.

Z fares are not upgradeable to first under any circumstances - all reports are that they are generally quite strict with this. (LH, OTOH, will allow space available upgrades Z to first with a UA certificate. And they give class of service bonus which is posted to the UA account. Go figure, but then, this is the airline industry. :confused: )

Also, all of the fare rules for Z fares I have purchased stated that no further discounts were applicable.

Quoted from Air NZ program:

"United Airlines and Varig Flights in booking class Z earn Airpoints Dollars at the full economy class rate".

Or even start the trip in AMS @ GBP1350+ taxes round-trip

You should definately get the Spanair Plus points for this trip, it should work out even if it is a company negotiated Z fare basis. You might want to browse the SK Eurobonus forum as there are many Spanair discussions there (Spanair is a subsidiary of SAS, but with their own FF program).
If you do that you will notice that they are notoriously giving people problem with mileage credit.

A full agreement with your status! It's not worth at all to use StarAlliance! I wish there were more alternatives! Welcome Air Berlin!

There was a thread on here two days ago about Z fares and BritishMidland. They were having a great price for Z fares, but the question was, does it earn points. Varying opinions! It actually was the Economy Plus class of service. But with the OP experience I wonder if all the *A do not give points on Z so easily?

Z class on BMI do not earn points - that is their fare class for Premium Economy reward seats.

Booking class letters vary by airline (although some are more or less standard). Please see the *A booking class thread (stickied at top of *A forum) for details.

[QUOTE=1kBill]FWIW, United's rules for mileage on Z fares posted to UA FF program are:

100% "redeemable" miles, no class of service bonus - That means you earn the miles flown but no 25% bonus for business class that you would earn on full fare (C or D) biz.

150% credit for EQM's - these are the miles that count toward elite levels.
QUOTE]

This has been my experience flying UA in Z class across both the Atlantic and the Pacific. So I suspect that the problem is either due to your ticket being consolidated in some way or to Spanair simply being wrong. Good luck!