United MileagePlus (Consolidated) - Asia Itinerary - Booking Multiple Tickets with Miles and/or Fare

I want to thank the community here in helping me reach Platinum and possibly 1K this year. This is an accomplishment since I have never had status on any airline previously booking on whichever airline seemed to meet my needs (for better or worse given United's customer service right now). I have never really flown first/business class much less internationally:

Here are some questions that I can't really figure out after reading multiple threads and hopefully the answers to these will help other people when they plan their trip after reaching a certain status. Some of these questions I know will be a "depends", but some general rules would be appreciated.

It's already complex with companions, but what about multiple family members? Now that I have accrued so many miles (through flying, partners, credit cards), here is a scenario which others can plug in their own personal plans:

Criteria:
Passengers: Family of 4 (two minors and two adults) AND two extended family (or friends)
Where: SFO to possibly TPE or ICN or NRT
When: 6-9 months away
Class: Since this is special, try to have everyone in business/first AND try to keep everyone together especially since minors are involved.
Overall: Avoid surprises and last minute changes to keep it as stress free as possible.

1. When is the best time to book this? As soon as the flight becomes available or a few months out?

2. There is supposed to be more inventory for saver awards for Platinum and above. If I wait longer, will there be more available for a given itinerary?

3. How does the "standby for international awards" apply here?

4. With Platinum status and above, I can get economy plus for everyone at booking. I understand that there are no complimentary upgrades to Asia.

-Is it cheaper to book economy and use miles/cash to upgrade after booking?

-If I am 1k and I get GPUs, how can I use them effectively?

-If I get business/first class award seats, should I buy my seat (to keep getting miles) and use miles for the rest of the family? Is it better to buy round trip or two one ways?

-Is it better to book each person separately on their own reservation?

5. Since I am Star Alliance Gold from Platinum status (but I also have United Club membership), if I get award seats on partner airlines, what will happen to my lounge access with regards to my companions? What about the minors? The immediate family vs the friends? Do they inherit my status for access? It seems Business Class doesn't allow entry?

6. Other tips or tricks to make this the least stressful trip from the flying perspective?

Thanks for your time and I think teh best way for me to give back is to report my experience once completed.

Welcome to FT!ShotgunKid
First -- you have asked a ton of question, most of which would take pages to fully answer. You have taken on a very challenging scenario given the limited amount of award / upgrade seats typically available.

... 1. When is the best time to book this? As soon as the flight becomes available or a few months out? ... 6 business award tickets to asia? that is going to be very difficult and you should start trying as soon as possible
If purchasing economy and then upgrading, pretty much the same -- but the economy tickets are likely to be cheapest 2-4 months out.
You may be looking at a scenario involving all of purchase, award and upgrades.

...2. There is supposed to be more inventory for saver awards for Platinum and above. If I wait longer, will there be more available for a given itinerary? ... you may need to pick up 1-2-3 seats at a time

... 3. How does the "standby for international awards" apply here? ... You use a premium cabin award and on a leg with the premium cabin is not available but economy is, you waitlist for the premium cabin. Believe at least one leg needs to book into the premium cabin.

... 4. With Platinum status and above, I can get economy plus for everyone at booking. I understand that there are no complimentary upgrades to Asia. .... correct

... -Is it cheaper to book economy and use miles/cash to upgrade after booking? .... versus directly booking business award ??? depends on how you value miles -- but if available bussiness awards are probably effective cheaper

... -If I am 1k and I get GPUs, how can I use them effectively? .... no way to answer with just one or two sentances.

...-If I get business/first class award seats, should I buy my seat (to keep getting miles) and use miles for the rest of the family? ....really depends of the availability of cash and miles but in trying to get 6 seats, it is easy of you can purchase some of them directly
...Is it better to buy round trip or two one ways? ....the downside to OWs is two change/cancellations fee if they apply

...-Is it better to book each person separately on their own reservation? ....provides greater flexibility in approach

...5. Since I am Star Alliance Gold from Platinum status (but I also have United Club membership), if I get award seats on partner airlines, what will happen to my lounge access with regards to my companions? What about the minors? The immediate family vs the friends? Do they inherit my status for access? It seems Business Class doesn't allow entry? ... Business class does provide access to lounges, just no guests. *G or UC member is allowed one guest (not accumulative)

WineCountryUA: Thanks for the response! I had a hard time finding my post again.

So we decided we are going to Hainan for a special trip for my inlaws (father-in-laws father was from there) and kids. I can't find a way to get to Hainan Airport (HMA) through mileage awards and it looks like HKG is the closest major airport with lots of flights to HMA or by ferry.

So based on some of the advice, I can book the following options. The same seats I found were prohibitively expensive and it doesn't seem like the miles I would accrue from buying my seat would be any better than just buying 2 cents/mile. I also looked at the Upgrade seats by booking an Economy seat and there are only waitlist upgrades.

Here is the return flight:


Option 1 For 60k miles / person:
Business Class

OZ746 (Airbus A330-300) - 1230AM - 5AM (3 Hours 30 Min) HKG - ICN
Layover 11 hours and 30 Minutes
OZ214 (Boeing 777-200) - 430PM - 1045AM (10 Hours 15 Min) ICN - SFO


Option 2 For 70k miles/person:
First Class

UA862 (Boeing 747-400) 1130AM - 9AM (12 Hour 30 Minutes) HKG - SFO


What would be best in this situation for the return flight? Having never flown much to this region, I am worried about the jetlag and sleep time to best optimize the kids and me for school and work.

Option 2: It SEEMS like the direct flight would cause us to be awake the entire time and fall asleep after we get home. Without getting into a discussion of kids in first class (my kids are well behaved), it still would be better for us to be sleeping to acclimate. From a seating perspective, it seems the center four seats (2 adults and 2 kids) and two window seats for the in-laws would work best so that we could sit side by side.

Option 1: It seems there is more sleep time during the second leg since the ICN-SFO flight is "overnight", but the layover and flight schedule might be too strenuous for the in-laws and the kids -and maybe me! Or because it is so tiring, maybe we will all sleep on the flight home?

I believe I would have lounge access in ICN with showers so we could all freshen up before the long flight home. Does this sound crazy?


Has anyone done this?

Thanks for you help!

There is nothing good about a 3.5 hour redeye flight followed by 11 hours sitting in the terminal.

Nothing.

Option 1 For 60k miles / person:
Business Class

OZ746 (Airbus A330-300) - 1230AM - 5AM (3 Hours 30 Min) HKG - ICN
Layover 11 hours and 30 Minutes
OZ214 (Boeing 777-200) - 430PM - 1045AM (10 Hours 15 Min) ICN - SFO


Option 2 For 70k miles/person:
First Class

UA862 (Boeing 747-400) 1130AM - 9AM (12 Hour 30 Minutes) HKG - SFO


What would be best in this situation for the return flight? Having never flown much to this region, I am worried about the jetlag and sleep time to best optimize the kids and me for school and work.

Option 2: It SEEMS like the direct flight would cause us to be awake the entire time and fall asleep after we get home. Without getting into a discussion of kids in first class (my kids are well behaved), it still would be better for us to be sleeping to acclimate. From a seating perspective, it seems the center four seats (2 adults and 2 kids) and two window seats for the in-laws would work best so that we could sit side by side.

Option 1: It seems there is more sleep time during the second leg since the ICN-SFO flight is "overnight", but the layover and flight schedule might be too strenuous for the in-laws and the kids -and maybe me! Or because it is so tiring, maybe we will all sleep on the flight home?

I believe I would have lounge access in ICN with showers so we could all freshen up before the long flight home. Does this sound crazy?


Has anyone done this?

Thanks for you help!

Take the 2nd offer. For 10K miles more, shaves 16 hours off your travels. That's a long time to be in the airport in Incheon.

Thanks for the input. When you put it that way, the direct flight does sound much nicer...

I read in the other threads that Asiana's Business Class might be nice, but I guess the time/convenience would also trump this possible benefit.