Using United's Star Alliance and Miles for Millie Europe cruise

[calberry]

We have booked the 14 day Sept. 23, 2007 Venice to Barcelona cruise on Millie :D , and now have to figure out how to get there :o . We have lots of United miles but would appreciate feedback from folks that have had experience trading in their miles with United's Star Alliance partners (particularly Lufthansa).

 

We will be flexible both coming and going dates as we want to spend a day or two in each embark/debark port anyway. So, I guess the main question would be how likely are we to actually be to able use our miles (business or 1st class, SFO-VCE, BCN-SFO), or should we be prepared for the possibility of having to bite the bullet and pay 'real money' to go.:confused: :mad: :eek:

 

Thanks

Steve

[quepaquete]

I don't know about United, since I use Delta, but it's not easy to use mileage to get a bus/1st ticket. Sometimes its easier to buy a coach and then upgrade to bus/1st. I work with Delta over the phone, it usually takes many phone calls but at the end it's worth it.

 

God luck and happy travels.

[Marytutor]

I have used United miles on Both Lufthunsa and Austrian with no difficulty. Have only flown coach, but I do not think that upgrade is a problem if the seats are open. I think that you will most likely have to make changes somewhere in Germany or Austria to get to Venice and probably also on the way back.

 

Mary

[SheilaNC]

We used Delta miles and took what we could get...fortunately we, too, wanted extra time in Venice and Barcelona so we gave them a range of dates and were not at all particular about times. Took awhile and we were waitlisted but we flew into Venice and out of Barcelona without a hitch on both Delta and partner airlines. You will love this cruise...incredible ports, very busy days and few sea days but, truly a trip of a lifetime. We're trying to figure out when we can do another one.... :)

[Leela]

Call the United Mileage Plus redemption number (on the back of your frequent flyer card) and talk to them. Star Alliance partner awards work a little differently than regular United awards -- the number of miles required is different from the United awards, and getting an upgrade is also different. It used to be that, to use United miles for a Lufthansa upgrade, you'd have to get a paper certificate from United. I have heard, however, that this is changing and at some point United Mileage Plus members will be able to do it all in a paperless transaction (for Lufthansa only). I'm not sure when this goes into effect, though.

[ocngypz]

Don't be surprised if they hit you for double miles, either. Just happened to me.. and they were all UA flights.. not a single code share.

 

Good luck.

 

I have better luck buying upgradeable coach seats than anything else.

[KnoxvilleSam]

We used miles last summer and this summer for first class/business class tickets (two last summer, three this summer) for travel from Knoxville to Rome and return (last summer) and Knoxville to Venice/Barcelona to Knoxville (this summer for the June 19 Millie sailing). We started making the arrangements 9-10 months out (before we knew about the 330 day policy) and simply spent a fair amount of time on the phone with the Delta Sky Miles reservationists. We were also somewhat flexible - we had to go 3 days early last summer and stay in Paris before going to Rome - the DW didn't complain. This summer we're going to Venice for two pre-cruise nights before staying on the Millie for a night before leaving.

 

The only stress I had was when it looked like Delta might fold a month or so ago.

 

Good luck,

 

KnoxvilleSam

[avalon1025]

I am 1K on United and called the day the flights opened for our South American cruise on Infinity for next March and all the free seats were gone in Business. I was able to get an upgrade though on a $1900 coach upgradable fare...call early!

[Brucemcdou]

Hi, Steve - We've never had much success using United Mileage Plus miles to/from Europe if we have to use a code-share flight. We have if we can stay on a "real" United flight - we're going r/t to London this summer in United Business. :) As Leela says, the process is more cumbersome. You can't book a code-share flight on-line, you have to call and talk with a reservations agent - although I understand they will allow you to book Lufthansa using miles on-line later this year. In my experience, even on the phone with a reservations agent they still can't see the available seats on the partners, but must submit a request and you have to check back a day later.

 

Also, and again just in my experience, even when I give up and pay to fly Lufthansa, they don't know your United status or they could care less if they do. I try really hard to avoid Lufthansa if I can now.

 

I see you're also from the Bay area, so you're aware of the limited number of non-stop flights from here to Europe. Since you wouldn't be able to book non-stop flights to BCN or VEN anyway, one option would be to look for a mileage ticket r/t from a large hub, such as London or Frankfurt, and then just pay for the inter-European flights yourself. You may have more success on the routes that have more flights.

 

Good luck, stay flexible, and start calling at 330 days out!

[calberry]

Thanks everyone for all the great feedback. And Brucemcdou (I actually work at One Market in SF) this will be our first trip to Europe hence our total lack of knowledge about anything related to flying international. So every recommended booking option is one more thing we will have learned.

 

Our objective is to 1) get there, 2) be as comfortable as possible (Bus/1st and minimal changes), and finally 3) as cheap as possible (using miles?).

 

We have not accrued our miles by flying (hence our lack experience in these matters) but by paying for almost everything we buy with our United Mileage Visa card. That is sort of a game for us...to maximize miles through our purchases (including the Dining Club).

 

Thanks again.

 

Steve

[Leela]

If your objective is to be as comfortable as possible and you end up having to go in coach, don't fly Lufthansa if you can get "Economy Plus" on United for the transatlantic leg of the trip. Lufthansa doesn't have an economy plus section, and although the food and service is better, having someone in front of you lean back even slightly puts them in your lap. I'd rather have a haggard flight attendant ignore me than be trapped again for 10 hours in a Lufthansa coach seat. The seat itself is fine, the movies are fine, and so on, but I find that the few extra inches of room you get in economy plus on United make the trip in coach tolerable. When the people in front of me on the Lufthansa flight reclined, I couldn't even open my laptop (the smallest of the Apple PowerBooks) to work or watch a movie. I really was trapped.

 

Now, if you get lucky and can snag a business class seat, Lufthansa is great. United doesn't suck in business, either.