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After a short outage, Lufthansa awards are back on United MileagePlus

Kyle Olsen
Kyle Olsen
Points and Miles Expert
Kyle Olsen is the former points and miles reporter at TPG. He specializes in maximizing points and miles, elite status and credit cards so readers travel more comfortably and at a lower cost.
Sept. 26, 2022
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3 min read
Lufthansa and United planes at the gate in Frankfurt airport
After a short outage, Lufthansa awards are back on United MileagePlus
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Editor's Note

/em></strong><em> 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.

AIRCANADA.COM

The Lufthansa and United awards are bookable using LifeMiles, the points currency for Star Alliance carrier Avianca.

LIFEMILES.COM

However, United's website is not showing the Lufthansa flight — instead, you can only book the United flight.

UNITED.COM

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.

SINGAPOREAIR.COM

However, when we search on the United website, only United connecting economy class seats are available.

UNITED.COM

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.

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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.

Featured image by NATE HOVEE/SHUTTERSTOCK
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.