Just ask here, the M&M FTers will be willing to look it up for you: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...thread-12.html

A good and smooth experience to report here.

Called 1K desk in late February for my paper SWU on LH to be used on FRA - MAA. They issued a blank paper SWU (just my name on it - no flight or dates) saying it was in Feb and the new policy did not apply. I was worried since my travel was in March and was not sure if the LH folks would insist on the new cert, but the blank SWU arrived by FedEx 2 days after ordering.

The blank turned out to be a good thing because my actual trip was delayed by a day. Anyway, here I am in the lounge at FRA holding a C BP :)

They could not do the upgrade at the service center, but it was super smooth at the lounge (business lounge near gate B20-28) and the agent filled out the e-ticket and other details by hand and exchanged my Y BP for a spanking new C one. Full process took about 3 minutes.

I am also doing a fair bit of AA/BA/OW this year to try out the other side, and I must say that the inter-operability of SWU's across UA/LH is a BIG factor that has kept me with UA/LH over the past 4 years, and I've really valued the ability to use the SWU's on LH. So please don't mess this one up!

I just used one of the new certificates (passenger name, flight route, etc. printed on it) for my wife on a flight from SFO to MUC. The check-in agent was happy to see it was a new version, made a quick call, and upgraded her on the spot at the check-in counter. Typically I always had to wait at the gate for the upgrade to come through.

I asked her if it matters to them if I show an old or new certificate. She said it does not matter to them, it only matters to United. There were other agents admiring the new certificate, I thought it was kind of funny.

Personally, I think having all the correct flight info printed may be a benefit when asking for the upgrade at the counter or gate, as some agents may think the passenger is somewhat entitled to getting the upgrade, since it has specific info printed on it. This is especially true for agents that are less familiar with these upgrades.

Overall, I agree this should all be made electronic with upgrades clearing up to x hours / days before the flight. Electronic certs would remove some of the randomness in the current system.

I can't wait for the day that I have to use a cert with incorrect info printed on it for the flight I want to upgrade. I cannot imagine agents accepting it and find it odd that it is at their discretion. They should either be accepted or not.

only a single data point of course, but (bolded) is what many of us assumed about the rationale for this change

Is there any doubt when UA states they want to know: ' These enhancements to the upgrade product will allow United to better track and identify where this product is most used, which will allow us to better monitor the quality of your experience when upgrading on Lufthansa.

:td:

Another stupid change that will lead to more cost for everyone (especially United).

Does anyone at United even know what they are doing anymore? Have you guys actually looked at the flight patterns and upgrade rates of the people using these?

Let me give you an example: I just booked Chennai - Frankfurt - Denver and then SFO Frankfurt. Which segment should I have requested these for? I ended up canceling all of these segments for various reasons (they were refundable fares).

My upgrade rate on LH is about 20% so I would have ended up getting upgraded on one of the above segments - but there is no way to know which one.

PLEASE United - have someone that knows something look at these changes before they are implemented.

Not much luck on the return flight from FRA to SFO. Business was full and my wife was not upgraded. I will now see how sending the upgrade certificate to United works out.

Please post your experience. I am still holding a plain jane GPU from my failed 3/1 upgrade attempt and wondering if I should continue to hold it or resubmit it for possible non-LH use in the future.

I'm particularly interested in how long it takes for the GPU to redeposit into your account after mailing the GPU back to UA Mileage Plus.

TIA.

Just posting my successful experience with using a GPU on Lufthansa yesterday. I had requested the paper certificates in January 2013 before the change so they were not flight-specific.

Upon flying into Frankfurt around 6:30 p.m., I went to the Lufthansa Service Center and tried to apply the GPUs to my flight the following morning. The Service Center said I had to wait until the "day of travel."

I then proceeded to the check-in counter where the agent confirmed that I needed to wait until "the day of travel," but she put me on an upgrade waitlist.

The following morning, I went to the Senator Lounge where I was told to go upstairs to the Senator Business Lounge. An agent there tore up my original boarding pass (a good sign!) and said she would page me. Less than an hour later, I got my new C boarding pass with the GPU stapled to it. At boarding, the gate agent took the GPU.

Thus, there was no problem using the old non-flight specific GPUs, and it appears that the Senator Lounge people are the most knowledgeable so ask there first.

Nearly a month in, and not many reports of how the new certs are working. (Or how the old certs are working in the new era.)

I used one of the new certificates to successfully upgrade today on the route MCT to FRA. The gate agent seemed confused at first, but he got it to work.

The business experience on LH's A340 was bad though. Even though it was a lay flat seat, the headphone was attached to the seat, so I couldn't plug in my Bose. In addition, power on the seat was not working, so I couldn't charge my laptop to watch movies in it.

It took so long for UA to send me my certs which I requested that I haven't booked a flight on LH and have been flying other carriers.

UA's track record for sending me these and them being received is so poor (on average 3-5 weeks, as a 1K) that I cannot see myself using the flight specific ones. I rarely book a flight more than 7 days prior to departure.

I used 2 of the old style certs recently without issues between the US and Munich. No comments or questions. Got upgraded from Y to C at check-in both times.

I just ordered one from the Tokyo 1K desk. They send them by Fedex by default, which is nice.

They didn't ask for PNR, just name and flight details. She said that the certificate will be the same as the old ones, but I guess that is incorrect information.

Here are my experiences:

ATL - FRA: This was one of the new pre-printed certificates. The LH agent was looking for space to fill out the flight details and was surprised to see that it was already printed for her. Took it without any issue.

MAA - FRA: Was manned by AI folks, offering to sell C class upgrades for $500. The person checking me in asked her supervisor on how to handle the cert. The supervisor asked her to confirm the expiry date on the certificate and the rest should not matter. So I could use a pre-printed certificate of FRA-MAA on this flight.

FRA - DEN: The LH agent took the old style certificate and filled out the flight details. No questions asked.

I reckon it is just UA wanting to make things more difficult to its customers. LH does not care about what was on the certificate as long it was a valid one (expiry date). It is clear that the folks who come up with these enhancements do not travel for a living. I have other choice words and terms for them but will refrain from using it.