Upgrades on Lufthansa?
 

I fly Lufthansa now-and-again over the Big Pond on the East. I always travel under UA status.

Now, I've gathered bits and pieces from a few other message topics, but let me see if I get this straight. Am I mistaken or is it pretty impossible to upgrade on a UA-codeshare hop across the Atlantic. Even with SWUs?

Under what circumstances would/could an upgrade be considered? I wonder if it would be better to book the entire trip through LH, but would they still accept UA upgrade certs?

Thanks.

[This message has been edited by JohnnyP (edited 06-06-2001).]

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum50/HTML/006290.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum50/HTML/004288.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum50/HTML/003658.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum50/HTML/003519.html

You can only upgrade using United miles if you fly using a Lufthansa flight number (not the United codeshare number). You need to get a paper upgrade certificate from United. There is kind of a catch 22. United won't issue the upgrade certificate until the upgrade is confirmed. Often the upgrade won't confirm prior to the flight. My travel agent gets United to send me the upgrade coupon while we are waiting 10 days or so for the confirmation. In the absense of advance confirmation, Lufthansa is good about taking the coupon for an upgrade at the gate.

yes: must be LH flight number and you must have a 'UA paper upgrade certificate' saying 'good for a one-class-transatlantic upgrade' on LH.

I always got such certificates from UA in advance (without having any flight reservations and/or upgrades made) - time needed to get them sent to Europe was about 3 weeks. They are valid for 12 months - a year ago I had to send one back for recredit 20'000 miles and wasn't charged a fee (I was 1K then).

Those UA upgrades are only good on selected fares (same rules apply as on UA transatlantic flights).

let me add that these 'UA-upgrades good for LH flights' are transferable: I did use them also for my family and friends.

Thanks for the links and comments. I now "get it!" http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif Basically, fly UA metal for the least headaches, or fly LH metal with LH code.

Q: since I'm a lowly Premier, can I still get those UA/LH certificates? Do I just call M+ and ask?

[This message has been edited by JohnnyP (edited 06-06-2001).]

yes, because they cost miles rather than have much to do with your status.

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RichardMEL, UA 1K
A Star Alliance Member.