Press Release 2006

United Airlines now participating in Star Alliance Upgrade Awards
First U.S. carrier to offer alliance mileage upgrade option

United Airlines is now the ninth Star Alliance member airline to offer Star Alliance Upgrade Awards, a unique Frequent Flyer Programme (FFP) that enables customers to redeem miles or points from their FFP accounts for one-class upgrades on scheduled flights operated by the participating Star Alliance member carriers.

Star Alliance, the airline network for Earth™, is the first global airline alliance to offer such a mileage redemption option, which is now available to the (FFP) members of ANA (ANA Mileage Club), Asiana Airlines (Asiana Club), Austrian (Miles & More), LOT Polish Airlines (Miles & More), Lufthansa (Miles & More), Singapore Airlines (KrisFlyer), TAP Portugal (Victoria), THAI (Royal Orchid Plus) and United (Mileage Plus). More Star Alliance member carriers will begin to offer this product in the future.

“With United’s participation in Star Alliance Upgrade Awards, our customers have a much larger number of flights on which they can choose to redeem miles for upgrades, especially across the Americas as well as on transatlantic and transpacific routes,” said Jaan Albrecht, CEO Star Alliance.

“Participation in Star Alliance Upgrade Awards greatly enhances the benefits our Mileage Plus programme offers United frequent fliers. Our customers can now upgrade on other Star Alliance member airlines using miles from their United Mileage Plus account. This a benefit our customers have told us they want and it can only be achieved through United’s membership in Star Alliance, said Graham Atkinson, senior vice president, Worldwide Sales and Alliances, United.

Star Alliance Upgrade Awards requires a confirmed booking prior to travel which can then be upgraded through the existing FFP redemption channels, in general, either through calling reservations or visiting a website (depending on carrier’s offer). The upgrade is processed electronically, eliminating the need to issue paper certificates to the customers. Both conventional paper tickets, as well as electronic tickets, can be upgraded under this new scheme. Upgrades are permitted for one class of travel, either from Economy Class to Business Class or from Business Class to First Class*. Additionally, on United flights offering First and Economy Class only, upgrades from Economy to First are possible. As with most FFP redemption products, capacity restrictions apply and upgrades from certain types of fares are not permitted.

Since its inception in 1997, emphasis has been placed by the Star Alliance network on adding value to each member carrier’s FFP by offering alliance-wide benefits to the customers. For instance, Star Alliance was the first airline alliance to offer harmonised benefits for both Gold and Silver Card holders across the network.

These benefits for Gold and Silver Card holders include:

Priority Check-In
Star Alliance Gold members can make use of separate check-in desks.

Priority Waitlist
Star Alliance Gold and Star Alliance Silver members receive priority waitlisting if the desired flight is already fully booked.

Priority Airport Standby
Star Alliance Gold and Star Alliance Silver members receive priority standby listing if they arrive at the airport without any reservation for a specific flight (subject to local regulations).

Lounge Access
Star Alliance Gold members have access to more than 660 lounges at airports around the world.

Priority Baggage Tags
Star Alliance Gold members are entitled to priority baggage service across the network.

Increased Baggage Allowance
Star Alliance Gold customers are entitled to one additional piece of checked baggage (piece concept) or an additional 20 kilos (weight concept).

Moreover, Star Alliance is currently the only alliance that provides customers with one point of contact to book and ticket award travel on all other Star Alliance carriers.

* Note: not all participating carriers offer First Class

Note: Upgrade Awards between United and Asiana Airlines and THAI will be available as of 17July 2006, and between United and the following carriers as of 24 July 2006: ANA, Austrian, LOT Polish Airlines,Lufthansa and THAI. Upgrade Awards with Singapore Airlines are currently only available with ANA, Austrian, LOT Polish Airlines and Lufthansa. The product is currently not available for TAP Victoria members upgrading on United Airlines.

About Star Alliance
The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer customers worldwide reach and a smooth travel experience. Star Alliance was voted Best Airline Alliance by Skytrax in 2003 and 2005. The members are Air Canada, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, bmi, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAP Portugal, THAI, United, US Airways and VARIG Brazilian Airlines. Regional member carriers Adria Airways (Slovenia), Blue1 (Finland) and Croatia Airlines enhance the global network. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers more than 15,500 daily flights to 842 destinations in 152 countries.

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