weero

I have to agree here - it is a standby instrument and LH can not clear the standby whenever they don't feel like it. While they must deny you an ug if you are in an 'illegal' fare bucket, there is little pressure on them to clear you if you are on one which UA claims is permitted.

And limiting SWU upgrades to fare buckets which also work for miles and eVocuhers isn't really unfair, given that one can snag a Z->F ug for a fraction of the "membership cost".

Shareholder

So you're saying let LH screw me over and forget about it?

But let's actually confirm if this is a fact or not. We have no evidence that LH is denying upgrades on the K fare at the moment. Your speculation is based on its own M&M upgrade rule changes and may well have nothing to do with those applicable to the UA SWUs. The previous post that sparked the supposition comes from someone trying to upgrade from an L fare, based on 2009/10 rules, and clearly not permitted under the currently posted 2011/12 rules.

Next time I am at an airport where LH check-in is being handled, I will ask one of the agents what is displayed on their screen vis a vis the UA SWUs. If LH has unilaterally made a change, then I will contact UA first since it is their instrument that is being invalidated and they have not been informed, and their elites have not been informed. They have the ultimate responsibility at my end on these matters.

SeeBuyFly

A standby upgrade is supposed to be cleared based on space availability, not on the basis of whether the airline feels like it.

If it has to do with LH's feelings, this should be stated in the printed rules. If it is based on certain fare classes, these classes should be specified in the printed rules.

Why do you say that stating certain rules on the SWU and then following different rules "isn't really unfair"? It seems to be to be a particularly blatant example of deceptive practices.

oliver2002

Feel free to scream and yell etc as much as you like, its a free country/world. @:-)

K is the absolute lowest fare bucket in long haul since the July 1 realignment:

http://www.vielfliegertreff.de/conte...angstrecke.gif



The first K fares have appeared in Germany for TATL, I'm pretty sure CO will start filing them ex US for the upcoming winter this or next week. The additional T/L/K buckets under S are meant to provide smaller pricing steps so customers don't turn away when the lowest fare class is sold out.

I seriously doubt anyone at United or Lufthansa will budge for this even if you stand in front of them and hold your breath... at most you will get an assurance that they will update the fine print in the paper stock soon.

Shareholder

I guess that's the difference between NAmericans and Europeans. We don't take .... from anyone! We fight 'til the end for justice. And small claims courts are quite responsive to citizen suits against large corporations. I'd love nothing more than to take LH (and UA) to court over this breach of contract!

SeeBuyFly

That's all that is necessary, except it should happen when the rules changed, not at some undefined time later.

If someone buys a ticket based on printed rules, why is it ok to screw that person over? (Fortunately your post saved me from this fate.)

oliver2002

Thank you. That was the purpose of the post. ^

weero

You cannot be certain who actually is screwing you (if anyone is after all). Just because the idiots at UA still print a wrong voucher after years of experience doesn't make it a LH GA's fault.
I myself have of course not tried it. But my boss' GF managed to get bounced on a W fare.
And it does. But for some odd reason, they do not perfectly coincide with UA's artwork on the matter.
I say that because it is a standby upgrade instrument.

And the above reasoning.

Which contract?

You don't have a contract with LH regarding your printed SWUs. You can take them back to UA, complain, get the $200 domestic-only voucher, and they will convert the SWU back into the electronic SWU.

How would you even explain that to a small claims court???

LH commits all kind of crimes. Heck these are the boys who ever so often do not honour paid fares, try to bounce folks on oversold flights based on made-up visa fairy-tales in order not to pay IDB compensation.
I'd never expect them to live up to a duty which isn't really their duty to begin with.

antitouchscreen

What are the odds that I'll get a successful upgrade from C to F using a UA SWU paper upgrade? SFO-FRA on a Wednesday.

zrs70

The odds are, without any margin of error, 55.5877 to 44.7988077

UAPremExecflyer

Did you try looking here http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...2010-11-a.html before posting?

bldr1k

The odds low this time of the year. With the dollar so weak it seems like all of Germany is vacationing in California right now. I've been on FRA-LAX and FRA-SFO recently and didn't get upgraded.

Shareholder

Received UA certs today and they bear the new MP logo so are the newest issued. The restricted fare classes clearly outlined on the front and back of the cert are: L, X, I, R, N, E, S, W, ID, AD and IP. No mention of K exclusion.

weero

Then you should book a ride in K and use it for upgrading to Biz,

Should be fun.

Make sure to reserve a good seat in coach before anything else!

SAN 1K

OK, I'm back from this trip, so I'll provide some input on these issues for reference.
1. I went to the A380 LH customer service counter at the gate. Actually the staff wasn't so busy and had time to talk with me. They told me that because my SFO-FRA flight was on UA - that they had no access at all to my onward flight. So they couldn't put me on the upgrade list. When I got back to the UA IFL and told the receptionist my story, she indicated that she had heard the same from other passengers - essentially, LH locks the outstations from seeing itineraries except those in which they are directly involved.
2. It did indeed only take one SWU to get from FRA-DOH, even though we stopped in Riyhad (exactly as soneone else had posted). I got this cleared at the upstairs service counter at FRA, about 3 hours before departure. It was a 747 with the new 2-seat-per-person arrangement, so a total of 8 available "seats", and I think there were 5 of us up there. Once again the LH F-class food/beverage service was positively outstanding, if not actually excessive to the point of being humorous. And of course this got me access to the F-class terminal in FRA which allowed me to go for a nice 5-mile run during my connection.
By the way, I also upgraded MUC-ORD on the return of this trip (I'm just burning up the certs!). It was the exact same menu, which was a dissapointment, but I made the best of it. The MUC F-class lounge is really nothing compared to FRA. Not even the same champagne selection, no car service, etc.