US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Bangkok on UA

I need a lot of miles to continue status this year, so I'm going as far as humanly possible (while still plotting to have a blast when I get there...so Bangkok fits the bill on both counts).

UA has a good fare available. Will I:

- Get US qualification miles for that whole monstrous trip?
- Will a leg of the trip on Thai count towards US miles (again, qualification?)
- Any chance at all of any upgrades on any of these?

CLE-ORD-NRT-BKK
BKK-Seoul-ORD-CLE

I need a lot of miles to continue status this year, so I'm going as far as humanly possible (while still plotting to have a blast when I get there...so Bangkok fits the bill on both counts).

UA has a good fare available. Will I:

- Get US qualification miles for that whole monstrous trip?
- Will a leg of the trip on Thai count towards US miles (again, qualification?)
- Any chance at all of any upgrades on any of these?

CLE-ORD-NRT-BKK
BKK-Seoul-ORD-CLE

For your first two questions, from the USAir website:
Thai
Economy Class: 500 minimum miles per segment or actual miles flown
First Class: 50% Class-of-Service bonus
Business Class: 25% Class-of-Service bonus

United
Economy Class: 500 minimum miles per segment or actual miles flown
First Class & Business Class: 50% Class-of-Service bonus

As for your third question, I wouldn't expect an op-upgrade, but they may happen. I don't know anything about upgrading on Thai, but United has Systemwide upgrades that you may be able to get your hands on. Even then, trans-pac flights can be awful hard to upgrade even with SWUs.

Thanks.....I forgot to ask in the original post....Are the elite bonus miles awarded when using a code share partner?

Pardon my apparent ignorance....never code shared before. Thanks.

You will get elite bonus for the UA flights, but not the Thai flight.

I would say your chances for an upgrade are approximately ZERO! :D

Thanks.....I forgot to ask in the original post....Are the elite bonus miles awarded when using a code share partner?

Pardon my apparent ignorance....never code shared before. Thanks.

As already said, you'll get your elite bonus with United, but not Thai. That being said, you do get your elite bonus on ANA if you could take them to BKK instead.

I was doing several Thailand business trips this past fall and winter.

NRT flights have always been sold out in business - and usually the NRT-BKK flight is sold out as well, so I'd say your "op upgrade" chances are about zero. There are plenty of 1Kers out there that fly the Asian routes and have upgrades in hand. They will always get ahead of you.

So, feel free to enjoy your 29 hour sojourn - in coach.

Cant you take UA from NRT to BKK. Ive been though there a couple times and both times did the NRT-BKK on UA, that way you would get the bonus. There used to be a UA nonstop from LAX-BKK as I recall but that stopped. Last time I was through there was going MNL-BKK on LH then BKK-NRT-JFK on UA. Havent checked the schedules recently. As to upgrades, as a 1K I have never missed on JFK-NRT but I still havent figured out how US people upgrade on UA. I think ORD-NRT is probably tougher. Have you tried routing through JFK? It would be a few more miles and it might not cost more.

UA837/838 go to from NRT-BKK and dont appear to be codeshares. Also if you route through SFO there is a non-stop to BKK. If you REALLY want the miles do CLE-JKF on US then JFK-FRA-BKK on LH. That will bang some out in a hurry.

Cant you take UA from NRT to BKK. Ive been though there a couple times and both times did the NRT-BKK on UA, that way you would get the bonus. There used to be a UA nonstop from LAX-BKK as I recall but that stopped. Last time I was through there was going MNL-BKK on LH then BKK-NRT-JFK on UA. Havent checked the schedules recently. As to upgrades, as a 1K I have never missed on JFK-NRT but I still havent figured out how US people upgrade on UA. I think ORD-NRT is probably tougher. Have you tried routing through JFK? It would be a few more miles and it might not cost more.

UA837/838 go to from NRT-BKK and dont appear to be codeshares. Also if you route through SFO there is a non-stop to BKK. If you REALLY want the miles do CLE-JKF on US then JFK-FRA-BKK on LH. That will bang some out in a hurry.

US doesn't serve JFK anymore. However, the general idea is sound: how about CLE-PHL-FRA-BKK on a mix of US and LH? And, if you're doing a mileage run, don't forget SIN.

Right about US and JFK but UA does serve there and US goes to LGA which is close to JFK and can be routed together I think. US also goes into EWR and they used to have both LH and UA service to Europe if you wanted to go the long way.

UA837/838 go to from NRT-BKK and dont appear to be codeshares. Also if you route through SFO there is a non-stop to BKK. If you REALLY want the miles do CLE-JKF on US then JFK-FRA-BKK on LH. That will bang some out in a hurry.

SFO-BKK is a direct flight - stops in NRT. I've been on that one twice.

US doesn't serve JFK anymore. However, the general idea is sound: how about CLE-PHL-FRA-BKK on a mix of US and LH? And, if you're doing a mileage run, don't forget SIN.

For purposes of maximizing miles, I would fly DCA-LAX-NRT-BKK. You need to ensure that you get on flights that are not direct flights as UA likes to do on Tokyo services out of IAD. CLE should be less of a problem with direct flights, but you'll have to do CLE-ORD-NRT-BKK as CLE has no UA non-stop service to either LAX or SFO.

Using Star combos, there are any number of ways to get to BKK:

CLE-ORD-PEK-BKK, CLE-ORD-KIX-BKK, CLE-YYZ-NRT-BKK, CLE-IAD-NRT-BKK, CLE-ORD-HKG-BKK, etc.

Assuming you want status miles, I would probably opt for CLE-ORD-HKG-BKK or CLE-ORD-PEK-BKK. Then transfer to Thai which is a terrific airline.

Well, if you reaaallly want miles. At least late last year you could do JFK-NRT-SFO-PVG for the same price as JFK-SFO-PVG. That was last fall. You could add BKK onto that perhaps if it is still available and you would have yourself some serious miles. ;)

I've seen a combination that goes from ORD - Osaka, then on from there. Any chances of the upgrade thru Osaka?

Any chances of the upgrade thru Osaka?


Dude. Without any way to support the upgrade (miles, certs, UA Global Services, et al) you should shoot for a good mileage run and book EconomyPlus if you can. They don't just give away those comfy seats for no reason.

If you've gotta suck it up in coach anyway, and you really want to maximize your mileage earning opportunities & fly in relatively less discomfort, you may want to consider the nonstop flight from EWR to SIN, and then connect on Singapore Air (*A member) to BKK.

The Y cabin on the EWR-SIN flight is Executive Economy, and from everything I've read about it, it sounds better than domestic F on US!!! I believe the pitch is 37" and the width is 20", compared to 38" & 21" on US F.

Dude. Without any way to support the upgrade (miles, certs, UA Global Services, et al) you should shoot for a good mileage run and book EconomyPlus if you can. They don't just give away those comfy seats for no reason.

actually, there are two "support mechanisms" here...I'm an elite on US (they offer unlimited upgrades....was wondering if that worked on codeshares or trans pacific flights), as well as a signature USAirways Visa holder (that too offers upgrades). Do either of those (earned and paid for) qualifications subject me to any upgrade potential?

Thanks.

actually, there are two "support mechanisms" here...I'm an elite on US (they offer unlimited upgrades....was wondering if that worked on codeshares or trans pacific flights), as well as a signature USAirways Visa holder (that too offers upgrades). Do either of those (earned and paid for) qualifications subject me to any upgrade potential?

Thanks.

No

actually, there are two "support mechanisms" here...I'm an elite on US (they offer unlimited upgrades....was wondering if that worked on codeshares or trans pacific flights), as well as a signature USAirways Visa holder (that too offers upgrades). Do either of those (earned and paid for) qualifications subject me to any upgrade potential?

Thanks.

You're on United. Its their call and they could probably care less that you have a "US Airways visa" signature card. Anybody can get one.

Again, take it from me, there are a gazillion 1Kers that ply the transpac routes on a daily basis - they've all got systemwide upgrades in hand and a couple million miles in the account to boot. They're gonna get upgraded first.