Hi all,
Flights: EWR to FRA on UA connecting to FRA-UAH on LH and the same LH to UA return.
Booked: B class
I've used GPU's to upgrade LH before, with mixed success. I burned my last ones, so I'm trying miles to upgrade the whole thing. Neither UA flight has cleared as of yet, but I'm waitlisted.
I read all the rules prior to booking and was careful to ensure that I got a fare that was upgradeable on LH. I booked online, which, of course, gave me UA flight numbers for the LH flights. I tried to do the star alliance upgrade online, but got error messages. When I phoned 1K I was transferred to a seemingly VERY knowledgable (star alliance desk) agent who said that the error was because my LH flights had UA codeshare flight numbers. Since I was within the 24 hour window, she said she needed to rebook directly with LH for those two FRA-AUH-FRA segments. The price came out the same and she did so. She then went in unprompted and helped with seats (nice) and then also requested my LH upgrades. The AUH to FRA was available and she confirmed that. The first LH flight is as of yet available.
Upon putting through the mileage upgrade, she warned me that since my ticket was now partially UA and partially LH, once the upgrade cleared, it would no longer show up on the UA site. Sure enough-no sign of that whole leg. It just appears as EWR-FRA-AUH and FRA-EWR. She also warned that many UA 1K agents would think it was an error, but it's not and that we just need to go to the LH site to view the upgraded LH legs. She also warned that if I wasn't careful in explaining it to them, they would re-ticket the whole thing and my upgrade(s) would be lost. I verified that it does exist (correctly upgraded) on the LH site under the LH confirmation number.
But I find this strange. Despite the fact that the agent went above and beyond and SOUNDED like she really knew her stuff (and was a nice as could be), I don't quite understand why I can no longer see this segment via UA. Will this cause any issues in checking baggage all the way through? Does anyone have any experience with this or thoughts on whether or not I have anything to be concerned about? I'm worried that perhaps this agent knew a few too many tricks....and that it may cause issues later on that others (at check-in, etc.) may not understand.
Thanks in advance for any feedback!
(sidenote-seems like a good season for upgrades. Sept: EWR to DEL GPU cleared a month out, Oct: BKK-NRT-EWR offered $750 to upgrade the whole lot-accepted, late Oct: mentioned above (1 of 4 cleared), Nov: EWR-FRA-EWR GPU already cleared!)
Flights: EWR to FRA on UA connecting to FRA-UAH on LH and the same LH to UA return.
Booked: B class
I've used GPU's to upgrade LH before, with mixed success. I burned my last ones, so I'm trying miles to upgrade the whole thing. Neither UA flight has cleared as of yet, but I'm waitlisted.
I read all the rules prior to booking and was careful to ensure that I got a fare that was upgradeable on LH. I booked online, which, of course, gave me UA flight numbers for the LH flights. I tried to do the star alliance upgrade online, but got error messages. When I phoned 1K I was transferred to a seemingly VERY knowledgable (star alliance desk) agent who said that the error was because my LH flights had UA codeshare flight numbers. Since I was within the 24 hour window, she said she needed to rebook directly with LH for those two FRA-AUH-FRA segments. The price came out the same and she did so. She then went in unprompted and helped with seats (nice) and then also requested my LH upgrades. The AUH to FRA was available and she confirmed that. The first LH flight is as of yet available.
Upon putting through the mileage upgrade, she warned me that since my ticket was now partially UA and partially LH, once the upgrade cleared, it would no longer show up on the UA site. Sure enough-no sign of that whole leg. It just appears as EWR-FRA-AUH and FRA-EWR. She also warned that many UA 1K agents would think it was an error, but it's not and that we just need to go to the LH site to view the upgraded LH legs. She also warned that if I wasn't careful in explaining it to them, they would re-ticket the whole thing and my upgrade(s) would be lost. I verified that it does exist (correctly upgraded) on the LH site under the LH confirmation number.
But I find this strange. Despite the fact that the agent went above and beyond and SOUNDED like she really knew her stuff (and was a nice as could be), I don't quite understand why I can no longer see this segment via UA. Will this cause any issues in checking baggage all the way through? Does anyone have any experience with this or thoughts on whether or not I have anything to be concerned about? I'm worried that perhaps this agent knew a few too many tricks....and that it may cause issues later on that others (at check-in, etc.) may not understand.
Thanks in advance for any feedback!
(sidenote-seems like a good season for upgrades. Sept: EWR to DEL GPU cleared a month out, Oct: BKK-NRT-EWR offered $750 to upgrade the whole lot-accepted, late Oct: mentioned above (1 of 4 cleared), Nov: EWR-FRA-EWR GPU already cleared!)