United Tweaks Benefits for MileagePlus Elites Flying on Lufthansa Group Airlines

If you have elite status with United Airlines, you’ll want to take note of this change pertaining to flights on Lufthansa Group airlines.

While United is a member of the Star Alliance, it also maintains special relationships with select carriers, some of which fall under the Lufthansa Group umbrella. And now, United elites will get a few more perks when flying on this specific group of carriers.

Here’s what you need to know.

MileagePlus Elites Get Additional Perks on Lufthansa Group Carriers

United has updated its Premier Status Benefits page, showing changes to check-in, baggage allowance, and the ability to earn Premier Bonus Miles for certain elite members flying with Lufthansa Group airlines. This was first noticed by Loyalty Lobby.

First, United MileagePlus Silver elite members are newly entitled to utilize business class check-in lanes when flying with Lufthansa City Airlines, a subsidiary of Lufthansa that operates select short-haul routes on behalf of the carrier (you can think about it similarly to the way the legacy U.S. carriers have smaller airlines that operate regional flights under a “Connection” or “Express” branding).

Silver elites receive business class check-in privileges with the following other airlines, in addition to Lufthansa City: Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Discover Airlines, Edelweiss Air, Lufthansa, and SWISS.

Next, Silver members now get an increased checked baggage allowance with Edelweiss and Lufthansa City. Other airlines that permit Silver members to check additional baggage include Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Discover Airlines, Lufthansa, and SWISS.

However, there’s a complication with the airlines in the list above that aren’t Star Alliance members (Air Dolomiti, Discover, Edelweiss, and Lufthansa City). Thus, Star Alliance elite benefits don’t apply to these carriers. However, the agreement on the provided benefits, which was worked out separately between United and the Lufthansa Group, does apply.

The terms and conditions of the baggage benefit state that basic economy fares don’t include a free checked bag, so that complicates things. It results in a situation where passengers have to purchase a fare that includes a checked bag in order to receive the additional checked bag benefit.

Confusing, we know.

Finally, a bummer for United elites flying on Edelweiss: You’ll no longer be able to earn bonus elite-qualifying miles on flights. However, you can still do so on the following carriers: Air Canada, ANA, Austrian Airlines, Azul Brazilian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Discover Airlines, Lufthansa, and Lufthansa City, so long as the ticket numbers do not start in “016.”

Final Thoughts

These aren’t earth-shattering changes for United elites, but they’re certainly worth knowing about. The biggest thing to pay attention to is the fact that booking a basic economy ticket on a number of Lufthansa Group airlines nullifies extra baggage perks, so you’ll need to be aware of that as you’re browsing your ticket options.