Lufthansa Miles&More is reportedly in the process of extending those electronic upgrade vouchers of Senator & HON Circle members that were supposed to expire at the end of this month.
These vouchers are credited to Senator & HON members upon qualification but recently also to Frequent Travelers or by extensions status passengers who soft landed from Senator to Frequent Traveler.
E-Vouchers are typically valid for two years, but given the worldwide situation of the last two years, they have been extended several times.
Despite the travel situation having improved (or maybe exactly because of that) it has become increasingly difficult to use the upgrade instruments are premium classes were solidly booked throughout the year, and the Lufthansa Group has been literally charging sky-high prices.
Now, there are definitely routes and instances where people are able to use these upgrades, especially last minute on the date of departure, but overall you often hear that these vouchers don’t clear and eventually expire.
According to Frankfurtflyer Lufthansa is now taking the step to extend those upgrade vouchers that would otherwise expire next week on December 31, 2022 for an additional year.
A formal announcement – according to their sources – will be made in the coming days.
This is definitely a welcome development if true, as quite a few customers are facing the issue of their upgrade vouchers going poof in 10 days’ time.
Mind you, it’s possible to upgrade a future flight with vouchers expiring on DEC 31, but it has to be confirmed, not waitlisted. In that case, the upgrade is used and spoken for. The only thing is that you can’t make any changes or cancellations as, in this case, the upgrade would be gone.
Conclusion
Lufthansa should inform their status passengers in the next couple of days that their expiring e-upgrade vouchers will be extended for yet another year. This is due to continuing issues to properly apply the vouchers in the past year, both due to high demand in premium cabins of the LH Group but also because many status customers haven’t flown much yet ever since the pandemic eded.
Let’s hope those customers who have vouchers in their accounts finally find a good purpose for them and to get them out of the way before the next expiry comes around.
