EZ aire upgrades

[Catherine Claus]

We booked Zaire premium economy seats United operated by Lufthansa from LAX to Barcelona.  We want to upgrade to business class.

We were told by United and Lufthansa that we are not eligible to upgrade.  What is the reason? This does not make sense to me. Also, one of the 4 of us can upgrade.  Anyone know what the answer is or to upgrade without waiting till we get to the Airport and take a chance that we will be able to upgrade.  That is what we were told by United and Zaire.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wallyj]

@Catherine Claus, what type of EZAir ticket did you book? Flexible or Restricted and when is your cruise and flight? EZAir books fare classes that may have ‘restrictions’ especially with code share flights as you are on Lufthansa equipment but with a United booking. You need to understand the fare class EZAir booked you current tickets and any restrictions that are associated with that fare code. Within every fare(economy, premium economy, business and first) there are various rate codes within each category.

 

Are you eligible to cancel your current EZAir bookings with no penalties? If you booked flexible fares you can cancel, refare your air upto 45 day before cruise or flight which ever is sooner. Does EZAir offer business class for the flights you are currently booked?

 

When I was considering a DL economy ticket on EZAir and I wanted to be able to use an upgrade certificate I had. When  I initially booked my flexible EZAir booking then called DL to see if I could use my upgrade certificate, they said my EZAir was booked in ‘z’  fare class and to be able to use my upgrade certificate, I needed to be booked in at least ‘x’  fare code, so I call EZAir to see if they even can offer ‘x’  fare code. Of course,  if available, ‘x’ fare code was substantially higher, so I choose to stick with the less expensive ‘z’ fare ticket. Letters listed are for example only. 
 

Sounds strange someone is telling you one of the four is eligible to upgrade, unless that one person may have status with Lufthansa or United?

 

It sounds like you current air bookings are booked in a fare code that is not eligible for upgrades, so it would be unlikely you would be able to upgrade at the airport. 
 

How are you proposing to ‘upgrade’, using miles, certificates ? EZAir may not have a contract/agreement to sell ‘business’ fares for your particular flight even if on the United website you see business seats available for purchase. 
 

In short, airline ticketing and fare codes can be complicated and even more so when you are dealing with a code share.

Edited December 22, 2023 by wallyj

[Steelers36]

6 hours ago, Catherine Claus said:

We booked Zaire premium economy seats United operated by Lufthansa from LAX to Barcelona.  We want to upgrade to business class.

We were told by United and Lufthansa that we are not eligible to upgrade.  What is the reason? This does not make sense to me. Also, one of the 4 of us can upgrade.  Anyone know what the answer is or to upgrade without waiting till we get to the Airport and take a chance that we will be able to upgrade.  That is what we were told by United and Zaire.

 

What @wallyj said, but I also think any passenger will have more difficulty and lower priority when trying to upgrade on a codeshare. 

 

Forget EzAir for a moment.  If you are a UA FF, can you normally upgrade on a codeshare flying LH equipment?  I would expect LH FF members are going to get first dibs on any available seats.  Can you not book UA on the route?

 

EzAir won't be involved in airline upgrades, so don't bother asking them.  You book the class you want and then it is up to airline rules and policy.

 

Sometimes, you will be able to either bid or purchase upgraded seat or cabin on airline website after booking thru EzAir.  Again, it depends on airline - and ticket class I expect.

 

Bottom line, if you want something to happen, don't book a codeshare.  Is it really that much cheaper?  Often I find booking with the operating airline is less.  I never book a codeshare unless no other choice or dollars are significant.  You are often a second class citizen as a codeshare customer versus their own customers. 

[ldubs]

I've had so many issues with seating when flying Lufthansa as a codeshare I now avoid them.  Not saying that is the issue here.  Just saying.  😀

[milolii]

@wallyj is correct, upgrade eligibility depends on the fare class(denoted by a Letter), with some classes ineligible for upgrades.  As he explains there are fare  classes within the cabin classes.  This sometimes includes deeply discounted third party fares such as EZAir.  It can be very complicated.  If you can’t find the fare class on your booking, call United and ask.  But it sounds as if you might have a fare class that isn’t eligible for an upgrade. 

 

United has gone to a waitlist program for flights to and from Europe. For example: From Premium Plus to Business you pay a certain fee each flight way or segment, ($425.00 I think) plus miles(15,000 or 20,000); and you're placed on a waitlist.  If you don't clear, your miles and money are refunded.  Not sure what are the differences with a Star Alliance partner, but the article below might be of some help. 
 

I also find it’s odd that one person can upgrade unless maybe that one person is a 1K premier?  But even that doesn’t make sense.  Not sure.  
 

Here is the article.  
https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/mileageplus/benefits/star-alliance-upgrade-awards.html

Click on the mileage award link in the article for more information on your destination.   

 

Another suggestion is to fly over in business class(as this is an overnight flight)  and back in Premium Plus.  We are trying this is May.  The fare is much cheaper. We haven’t decided if we will waitlist the flight back or stay in Premium Plus.  We usually fly out of SFO, so understand the long flights.    By the way, if your flight is eligible, you should be able  to see the upgrade offer (miles+money-waitlist) in your booking, using your UA 6 character booking confirmation code.