tasnam

ok so little confused now but want to clarify as I read all the above posts then I read your comment...

To book Business class on Star Alliance partners and make it "count" for UA credit for 1K:
IF booked with *airline (their ticket stock/NON-016) - Will get PQM
IF booked with *airline (their ticket stock/NON-016) - Will get PQD BUT only on UA segments

IF booked with UA directly for travel on *airline (UA ticket stock/016) - Will get PQM AND PQD all the respective partners (but the obviously the % of PQM varies among the partners/need to check booking class thoroughly for maximum benefit)

swiftaw

*A flight NOT on a 016 ticket: PQM only (no PQD)

*A flight on a 016 ticket: PQM and PQD

PQM earning would be the same in both cases, so the only difference is PQD. You would earn PQD for the full value of the ticket (minus any excempt taxes and fees).

chitownflyer

United's joint venture with Lufthansa allows one to book 016 United tickets on direct Lufthansa flights. However, the United website always displays the LH flights as UA codeshares, so the only way able to do so is to call United reservations and ask them to book the direct Lufthansa flights.

Alternatively, one can book the LH codeshare flights on United.com, and then call United reservations and request that the flights be changed to the direct Lufthansa flights. This is the procedure for making the flights eligible for applying GPUs to Lufthansa flight. A GPU can only be applied to a direct LH flight number, so the codeshare flight must be exchanged for the direct Lufthansa flight, and then the GPU can be applied.

WineCountryUA

That is a correct summary

Other than not addressing the UA operated fights (PQM & PQD earning regardless of ticket stock), that is a accurate summary also.

UA does have a TATL JV with LH (and others) but there are other partners without JVs that can also be booked via UA website. To the traveler the JV agreements really makes no difference.

The LH native flight numbers or codeshare on UA ticket stock do not change the mileage earning results. The native flight number is only relevant if a GPU is to be used.

tasnam

Thank you everyone.

Now I just have to pick the metal and keep the cost reasonable.

I am thinking ANA (1st choice for the strong bonus), Asiana (always wanted to try this one), EVA or maybe Turkish (want to try the lounge!)

Decisions, Decisions

jsloan

TK isn't going to be an option. They don't fly to Australia, and you're extremely unlikely to find a reasonable fare going in that direction. PWM to SYD is 10,130 miles; via JFK, IST, and SIN -- the most logical routing I can think of in that direction -- it's 14,584 miles. Airlines aren't all that keen to fly somebody an extra 4,500 miles without charging -- substantially -- for it.

If you need the PQD, I suspect your true options are UA and NZ. Anything else, you're going to have to piece together using multi-city search, and you're going to have to deal with plating restrictions -- between those two factors, I suspect you're going to find that prohibitively expensive.

If you don't need the PQD, I suggest you play around with Google Flights or something similar to see what your realistic options are. EVA doesn't fly to SYD, and they don't tend to play nicely with others in terms of ticketing agreements. I think you'll find that's unlikely to be an option either. On a few sample days that I checked, Asiana seemed to be the most reasonable option in terms of cost.

PVDtoDEL

If you want PQDs and higher PQM earning, you probably need to choose a UA JV partner. That leaves NH and NZ as your realistic options.

Out of the two, I'd recommend NH for product and NZ for routing convenience.

starwarsgeek8

Wouldn't changing a UA codeshare to partner prime code necessitate a recalculation of the fare? I wasn't able to change a DL/VS codeshare to a VS prime code without a fare recalculation, but i suppose it could depend on the T&C of the JV agreement.

findark

Not generally. It's possible the fare requires a UA-marketed flight but it's relatively uncommon. Otherwise the only difference between marketing carrier is sometimes inventory, but the conversion usually doesn't re-validate.

chitownflyer

If you search Star fare listings on expert flyer, you'll see the fares(e.g. LAX-FRA) are generally the same(PNC2S), but LH may have the surcharge included in the fare listing while you may need to add these to the United fares. The fares are generally all the same cost.

tasnam

Geez.....it is coming out $7,100 for one way on Air New Zealand....not sure if my company will stomach $14k round trip in Business (my choice to get the PQM/PQD)

United.com even is showing Qantas and Virgin Aus.

(PHL-Perth June 12 departure)

tasnam

GREAT News!

I was able to get PHL-LAX-AKL thru UA on 016 stock all in Business for $5,800 which is acceptable....booked it!

I have to get to Perth.....if I went PHL>Perth it was $9,800 on UA.com.

Here is my question....if I go to UA.com and try AKL-PER - says no flights (AT ALL)

How can I maximize my AKL-PER (in business) to get UA credit?
(Would prefer not to earn AA miles)

nerdbirdsjc

United has a special ticketing agreement with Lufthansa such that UA can plate wholly LH-coded, LH-operated itineraries on 016 ticket stock (and LH can do likewise for all-UA itineraries on its own ticket stock). United does not have a similar agreement with any other airline, including other Joint Venture partners (this means at least one segment must be UA-coded or UA-operated).

Kacee

I understand what you're saying here, and appreciate the information (helps to explain some issues I've had with TATL bookings), but UA will definitely issue single flight itineraries on partners that do not meet this standard. I've flown, for example, TG and AV itineraries that were ticketed on 016 stock under native flight number without any UA segment.

nerdbirdsjc

Oh, United *can* issue such tickets from a technical standpoint, but it goes against the airline's ticketing policy. This is why UA agents almost always refuse to book non-award itineraries with no UA/LH flights over the phone, and travel agents that plate 016 tickets with no UA/LH segments in the booking are subject to debit memos.