Just hours after writing my latest update on the ongoing saga with Lufthansa Group business and first class partner award space, it appeared that Lufthansa had began releasing space again…but instead it seems like a glitch that may reveal what’s available to Miles & More members, but not partners like United MileagePlus.

Lufthansa First Class Award Space Reappears, But Not Bookable Right Now

Earlier I wrote about how Lufthansa is not just blocking first class award space, but also business class award space. But within the last hour or so, a ton of first class award space appeared on seats.areo.

These seats showed up on united.com as well, but were unbookable (in both business class and first class). At “press time” (around 10:15 am ET), they are still showing up…but every time you click through, you receive an error message:

  Furthermore, this was not just close-in space that appeared available…space appears bookable all the way into next summer:

But this space was phantom too:

Even space within the next two days (the sort of space we could actually book until June 1, 2026) is not bookable:

So my theory is that United is somehow displaying a subset of business class (I) and first class (O) awards that are only available to Lufthansa’s own flyers and Lufthansa is not confirming the seats when a booking attempt is made.

So what does this tell us about the space? I’m not quite sure, other than that Lufthansa appears to be deliberately holding back space.

Mark this as developing. I’ve just spent the last 30 minutes trying to book this space and cannot do so. I’ll update this story again if the space just disappears altogether or if it becomes bookable.

Get Daily Updates

Join our mailing list for a daily summary of posts! We never sell your info.

SUBSCRIBE!

You have Successfully Subscribed!