TravelinWilly

I flew paid 1st LHR-FRA-JNB-FRA on LH, though the flights were ticketed as UA flights (e.g., TICKETED as UA #9138 when the flight was actually LH #572, etc.). This was because the flights were ticketed by UA and I flew UA IAD-LHR and FRA-IAD.

I got back to DC Friday afternoon, and checked my mileage balance...

This is what it shows for LHR - FRA:
L# 4737 C Class LHR to FRA 500 625 1125

Base 500, okay, bonus 625 (???) and total 1,125. Seems high to me, almost like it was treated as a UA flight (e.g., 500 minimum miles, 500 bonus for 1K, 125 bonus for business class). And what's "L#" mean? I know it's LH, but that's the nomenclature used.

This is what it shows for FRA - JNB:
L# 0572 F Class FRA to JNB 5248 7872 13120

So the base miles were 5,248, the bonus was 7,872, and the total was 13,120. Why is the bonus 7,872? Isn't it supposed to be only 1.5x miles flown in 1st on LH (meaning the bonus should be 2,624)? This also looks like it was treated as a UA flight. What does "L#" mean in the entry again?

This is what it shows for JNB - FRA:
LH 0573 F Class JNB to FRA 5248 2624 7872

This seems correct to me, and note that "LH" is denoted, not "L#." NOT that I mind extra miles, but why the discrepancy? Was there a promo I missed? Was there a mistake made that gave me extra miles on the way down?

Also note that when I checked in with LH at LHR, it took them almost an hour to do it because it was a United flight (or so I was told). The woman had to run back and forth from the checkin counter to the ticketing counter 4 times (literally), and another agent had to make 3 trips to sort it out (riling the other 1st pax because this was the only desk open for 1st). Do the flight #'s really have something to do with it? This is worrying me because I'm going to be doing these flights with great regularity, and I don't want to have this problem again.

So, to distill my incredibly long questions...

1) Why did I get extra (erroneous?) miles LHR-FRA-JNB?
2) What does "L#" really mean (as opposed to "LH"), and what does that mean to my mileage balance?
3) Do the UA flight #'s always create such havoc on LH, or is this a LHR issue?
4) Can I do anything differently so it won't take an hour to check in at LHR again?

Thanks.

Will

transpac

What dates did you fly? LH has made some changes in their program as of 1/8/04 and these may have affected you?

TravelinWilly

Hi transpac,

I flew outbound (LHR-FRA-JNB) on Sunday, 1 August (arrived on Monday, 2 August); the return (JNB-FRA) was on 5 August, arrived Friday, 6 August.

Any info. would be helpful.

Will

PS - Thanks for actually *reading* the whole thing (if you did...)

SEA_Tigger

It looks like they gave you your 100% 1K bonus on the FRA-JNB segment, even though that is only supposed to be between the US and Europe, not Europe and Africa. Bank error in your favor, I guess. Unless they audit it down the road and take it back.

L# shouldn't be some type of UA/LH code because you should have gotten 1125 bonus for LHR-FRA if it was (500 base, 500 1K bonus, 125 C class bonus).

And supposedly LH is able to handle UA e-tickets with mixed UA/LH segments, but evidently LHR didn't get that memo.

JAPGUY

I've also got Premier bonus miles for intra-Europe LH flights (ticketed under UA flight numbers) - not always, but often. They seem to be just a result of confusion by some LH/UA agents.

I also wonder the difference between LH and L#, but never heard the answer...

WindFlyer

Will, my experiences are somewhat similar with yours, and if there's any "pattern" to them, this is what I've noticed, tracing things back from the random erroneously posted elite bonuses for LH non-transat flights.

These bonuses only have appeared when the carrier entry on my MP summary show L#. In every one of these cases, I was booked on a UA ticket with the UA (codeshare) flight number. Interestingly enough, in every situation, this only ocurred when I checked in in Europe with LH agents (in stations other than FRA or MUC). And thinking back... each one of those check-ins took a long time and required the check-in agent to seek assistance...

So I don't know if this is a systems issue, a station issue, or an agent issue... How was your check-in experience at JNB?

Now as for expediting your future check-ins at LHR, assuming this is not strictly an agent issue, I would guess that having the ticket issued with the LH rather than UA flight numbers would make things go more swiftly.

TravelinWilly

Thanks for the help, everyone.

I didn't know that LH gives the same mileage benefits as UA for trans-Atlantic and intra-Europe flights (now I know! ). It sounds like there was a mix-up with the FRA-JNB flight, and I got extra miles. I'll suffer through it.

Wind Flyer, checkin at JNB took <1 minute, fortunately, and I got my boarding passes for JNB-FRA-IAD from the LH counter there. Regarding having the ticket issued with LH flight numbers for the LH portions, I'm not sure I can do/want to do that - I get a substantial corporate discount on UA, and the pricing may be affected if I switch those flight #'s to LH. However, I'm going back down in ~4 weeks for a 2-day meeting, same routing as this one, and I'll report back on how that goes for the next trip.

I don't know whether or not this is a system issue, station issue, or agent issue (good questions), but I'll pursue it more vigorously if/when it happens again.

Again, thank you for your help, everyone. "L#" - Whatever!

Will

WindFlyer

Not for intra-Europe, actually. The same mix-up that got you the extra miles FRA-JNB got you the extra miles for LHR-FRA.


This kind of confirms my theory that there is a "right" and a "wrong" way to process check-in when ticketed with UA flight numbers for LH flights... The "right" way leads to quick check-ins, "LH" listings in the mileage summary, and no elite bonuses on LH flights that are not transat. The "wrong" way results in a painfully slow check-in, "L#" entries in the mileage summary, and gratuitous elite bonuses. Based on my experiences, I would guess it is an agent issue...


You are right, you probably don't want to do that. Let us know what happens in your next trip and see if we can indeed chalk this one up to "agent issue"

Best wishes for your next trip, Will.

SFO 1K

In my experience on BMI, flying a UA code, I received all my UA miles, including bonuses. I haven't dug deep enough into the rules about code-shares, but I've decided whenever there is a UA code (and the price isn't outta whack) I will book with the UA code vs the code of the true carrier, to maximize my mileage opportunity.

Sadly, it's often the case that the UA code seats are significantly higher than the underlying carrier's fare for the same flights. Case in point, an upcoming LHR-FLR trip was $200 on LH and $750 on UA.

TravelinWilly

Just got back down to Joburg. Flew paid 1st IAD - ZRH - FRA - JNB, all UA flight numbers, even though ZRH - FRA - JNB was on LH metal.

It happened again:

L# 0572 F Class FRA to JNB 5,248 7,872 13,120

SO...base was 5,248, bonus was 7.872, total 13k.

I'm not sure what happend for ZRH - FRA as that still hasn't shown up, yet.

Also, I still have no idea what L# stands for, and it looks like none of us does. However, if you have status at UA and fly LH down to JNB, it may be worth your while to book that segment with the UA flight #.

Will

transpac

If you are flying paid FC, especially on LH, you should really consider joining LH M&M's program. Two R/T's from USA to South Africa in FC and you are a Senator, you will accumulate more miles, and they will be much safer.

Droneklax

I got the same thing, it appears to be related to the L#

LH 3264 Y Class FRA to PRG 500 0 500

LH 4729 Y Class LHR to FRA 500 0 500

L# 4730 K Class FRA to LHR 500 500 1,000

LH 3261 Y Class PRG to FRA 500 0 500

FLYDCA

I frequently see L# listed on LH flights operated by one of their subs. like Lufthansa Cityline. I guess it's sort of like a UX type code from what I have seen.

harry5198

I have UA code share flights on LH many times. (FRA-CPT FRA-BOM and European flights) I receive bonus miles on all the flights. I spoke to MP and they said that if it is A UA code share , you are entitled to the bonus miles.
The # in the posting indicates a code share flight

BriGuy

Good to know.

I will test and update next month -- flying a UA codeshare on LH (JFK-FRA-BLR-FRA-JFK) in mid-December. Getting the 1P bonus (9,220) FRA-BLR-FRA will be very nice!

This is one of those rare times that the UA codeshare priced lower than LH for the same flights.

As a new MP member (status match b/c my company is routing most if not all air travel through UA at this point), I'll also be getting double miles from a new member promo I signed up for (came in the welcome packet).