One of the nice benefits of United Global Premier Upgrades (GPUs) is that they can be redeemed on Lufthansa flights day of on a space available basis. They can be used to upgrade from coach to business if you book a minimum of a "V" fare, or to upgrade from business to first class if…
Continue reading: United changes Global Premier Upgrade policy for travel on Lufthansa
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
@lantean. United GPU's can be converted into one of the certs. There is no cost unless you are breaking the T&C of the certs by buying/selling/trading one
@ Lantean -- Premier 1K members get six of them per year.
@ Rami -- Yes.
@ askmrlee -- I know, right?
Being based in Tokyo this was one of the main reasons I stuck with UA as I have many flights with LH to Europe. This makes it a pain to upgrade and will likely push me to fly ANA or JAL from now on. I also am EXP on AA.
Well sheeit, I certainly agree that this is even more customer UNfriendly. Have enjoyed being able to use these and give them to friends stuck in the back on LH due to company policies 🙁
Lucky, would you mind writing an article about how to use the GPUs and checking the chances of the GPU clearing? I'm so confused and reading through Flyertalk is rather cumbersome. I'd appreciate any assistance!!
On the bright side, they do overnight these certificates so you can get literally get them tomorrow at no charge. However, this is still an extra hassle step.
I've expressed my intense displeasure on FT. I think this might be the proverbial straw for our family and UA.
@Oleg even if they overnight these certs you may be at the airport by then. So glad I left for AA.
@DP81 you basically book a fare that qualifies for the cert which was upped to a minimum of a booking class of "V" from "W". These only clear at the airport so you don't know if you are going to get the upgrade or not until the day of the flight. They cleared most of the time but you never know. The best way to use them was to book flights during off peak hours but if you have to travel on a certain date you just have to roll the dice. They used to just mail them to you and once you got them you could keep trying to use them or if they didn't clear send them back to UA to have them converted back into a SWU or GPU as they are known now.
And what happens if the upgrade doesn't clear (since these are space available after all)? Do they need to be reissued with the new flight details? Seems rather dumb to me...
@ Chase -- So it would seem. It can be mailed back and then redeposited, which takes a while, and then in theory it could be issued again.
So does this mean I can still order one without all this stuff on it and sock drawer it for the year ?
They already started collecting the info as of a few weeks ago but not printing as such. Now, if they would flag the reservation so you automatically get added to the grading list, that would be a big help!