After a short outage, Lufthansa awards are back on United MileagePlus
On Sept. 27, 2022, United told TPG that MileagePlus awards on Lufthansa have been restored. The following post reported the initial outage.
United MileagePlus members do not currently have access to most Lufthansa award space.
A TPG reader recently reported that Lufthansa awards have not been available on the United website despite appearing on Air Canada, ANA and other Star Alliance partner websites. We've verified this on various routes.
For example, Air Canada Aeroplan shows Lufthansa and United economy-class award tickets from Denver International Airport (DEN) to Frankfurt Airport (FRA) on Oct. 27.
The Lufthansa and United awards are bookable using LifeMiles, the points currency for Star Alliance carrier Avianca.
However, United's website is not showing the Lufthansa flight — instead, you can only book the United flight.
The same goes for this flight from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to Frankfurt. Air Canada, Singapore Airlines, Avianca and ANA all show award availability in economy class for one passenger.
However, when we search on the United website, only United connecting economy class seats are available.
This isn't the first time we've seen United have this issue. In July 2021, some of Lufthansa's award space disappeared from MileagePlus until returning later in the year. This time, however, the issue seems more widespread based on our tests.
In a comment to TPG, a United spokesperson said, "We are aware of this issue and are actively working with our partners to restore the Lufthansa award option as quickly as possible." This leads us to believe that this is a website issue and that Lufthansa awards will soon return to United MileagePlus.
Related: The best websites for searching Star Alliance award availability
Bottom line
Right now, United MileagePlus members cannot book most Lufthansa award tickets.
To book a Lufthansa award, you'll have to look into other Star Alliance points currencies. In the meantime, we recommend booking Lufthansa award tickets with Air Canada Aeroplan or Avianca LifeMiles as both programs do not pass on fuel surcharges.
We're hopeful that Lufthansa award tickets will be bookable with United miles soon. We'll update this article when we have updated information.
Additional reporting by Andrew Kunesh.
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- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
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- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
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- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month