MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR Changes Coming To How United Global Premier Upgrades Will Be Processed For LUFTHANSA Travel

MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR Changes Coming To How United Global Premier Upgrades Will Be Processed For LUFTHANSA Travel

This post is an important one for all of you United 1K and GS members who use or will use GPUs on Lufthansa!!!!!

Beginning on or about September 3, United will allow for the processing of GPUs electronically via their website.   This was supposed to take effect August 1 but tech issues delayed the roll out.

How GPUs process will be DRAMATICALLY different from the current process.   Currently, you would need to request a paper certificate that would be issued and mailed to you by United.  You then present it to the LH check-in or gate agent and hope that they clear it for you on the day of your departure.

NOW FOR THE MAJOR CHANGE:

Effective September 3 (or thereabout), GPU based upgrades need to be requested electronically, and you will know if you clear within 90 seconds of submitting the request.   If you are declined, you can request the upgrade again later, either the same day or the next day, etc.    THERE WILL BE NO WAIT-LISTING.  If you do not clear, you need to resubmit again, until the upgrade clears.

HERE IS THE KEY PIECE:

IF YOUR UPGRADE REQUEST DOES NOT CLEAR PRIOR TO 10 HOURS AHEAD OF YOUR DEPARTURE, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO USE THE GPU TO UPGRADE FOR THE FLIGHT.

In other words, you will not be able to upgrade within 10 hours of your flight, which means no clearing potential at the gate.  You will know if you cleared 10 hours before your flight, and have 0 chance to clear after that point.

If you have multiple segments that are GPU eligible on LH, you will have to do this for each segment individually and the 10 hour rule applies to each segment, not the start time of your itinerary.

This will apply to tickets booked either through United.com or Lufthansa.com.

It is recommended by United that if your travels are not happening in the next 2-4 weeks, to wait and process your GPU electronically instead of requesting a paper certificate.

This information came from a very friendly and knowledgable United Supervisor who answered my call at the United Star Alliance Award Desk this evening.

UNITED Mileage Plus members will be receiving an email detailing this new program on September 1 or 2.

 

 

Star Alliance Route Announcements:  July 25 – August 3, 2014

Star Alliance Route Announcements: July 25 – August 3, 2014

 

AIR CANADA:

Montreal – Curacao effective January 1 will BEGIN 1x/week service.

Montreal – San Salvador effective November 1 will BEGIN 1x/week service.

Ottawa – Samana effective December 24 will BEGIN 1x/week service.

 

 

AIR CHINA:

Beijing – Pyongyang effective September 22 will be reduced from 3x/week to 2x/week.

 

 

AUSTRIAN:

Vienna – Dubai effective March 29 will be reduced from 1x/day to 6x/week.

Vienna – Dubai effective June 2 will be reduced from 6x/week to 5x/week.

Vienna – Newark effective March 29 will increase from 5x/week to 6x/week.

Vienna – Newark effective June 2 will increase from 6x/week to 7x/week.

 
 

EVA:

Taipei – Okayama effective October 26 is CANCELLED.

 

 

SOUTH AFRICAN:

Johannesburg – Lagos effective September 2 will increase from 7x/week to 8x/week.

 

 

TAP Portugal:

Lisbon – Bissau effective October 26 will begin 3x/week service (resumption from suspension earlier in 2014).

 
 

UNITED:

Chicago – Topeka effective September 3 is CANCELLED.

Guam – Hiroshima effective December 19 is CANCELLED.

Guam – Niigata effective December 14 is CANCELLED.

San Francisco – Guadalajara effective September 21 is CANCELLED.

Guam – Okayama effective between December 20-28, January 24-February 8 is CANCELLED.

Guam – Okayama effective February 21 is CANCELLED.

 
 

PREVIOUS STAR ALLIANCE ROUTE ANNOUNCEMENTS

 
 

Courtesy:  www.AirlineRoute.net

Attention UNITED GPU Holders:   LUFTHANSA & UA Moving To Electronic Processing

Attention UNITED GPU Holders: LUFTHANSA & UA Moving To Electronic Processing

 

A big H/T to FlyerTalk’s ClaudiSTR who shared this nugget of great information based on her conversations with the UA Mileage Plus’ 1K desk.

It appears that beginning on August 1 (or thereabout), Mileage Plus members who wish to use a Global Premier Upgrade certificate will be able to do so electronically when booking or updating a reservation.  Up to this point, a paper certificate had to be requested from United which would be mailed to the Mileage Plus member.   The certificate would then need to be presented to the LH team at the airport on the day of travel for processing.  With this new change, all of that goes away (finally!!)

I don’t have too many more details at this point as far as how this affects transferring the GPU to someone else or what the exact process will look like once launched. If I learn anymore, I’ll pass it along.

If anyone has any other insights into this great change for UA Mileage Plus members, please share them!

 


a close-up of a plane