coloradotraveler

I hope you can read this photo . I may have to try calling again because I actually called before posting the question this morning and lady confirmed it was 43k. But if yours is showing 22.5k, I should indeed be getting it for 22.5k I would hope :-). Are there any requirements that we have to use the card first , have points transferred into it , etc or anything like that ?

jsloan

Yes, I can read the photo. It looks like the system is out of sync: I don't understand why it would show the "exclusive availability" message and still have the higher price. It may be a HUCA situation, or it may resolve itself on the website. The problem is, the XN inventory could disappear before it gets cleared up. . Here's hoping it doesn't.

coloradotraveler

What is an HUCA situation ?

nycityny

There actually isn't a disconnect between the top and the bottom of the photo. The 22.5K price above is the lowest price for a connecting flight. The 43K price is the nonstop price. Further down on the list (out of the photo) would be connecting flights at 22.5K.

That said, I did the search as well and received the 22.5K for the nonstop on 7/21 as well. I have the Chase Club credit card and Platinum status, so I got the message that it is "exclusively" for me. The disconnect is that the OP isn't getting 22.5K for the nonstop as well as the connecting flights since two of us on FT are getting it for the nonstop.

"Hang up, call again" if you don't like the answer you received the first time at the call center. It's very common for different agents to give different answers. Extremely common.

jsloan

Agreed. That's the part where the system is out of sync. If the UA systems recognize OP's credit card well enough to print the "exclusive" message, they should also give the lower price.

coloradotraveler

Do you two that are seeing this nonstop flight for 22.5k from DEN to LIH on July 21, are you both Premier status? Are the VN9 award fare flights only available for certain KINDS or statuses with United ? I have the United Explorer MileagePlus card but do not have any kind of special status, etc . Just got the card Friday . Haven’t used it yet . I did call again and the United lady said there’s a possibility your status is making the difference . This would be upsetting because the big reason I got the card was to hopefully get these nonstop flights at the award level “hopefully”and I thought the expert mode with XN9 was for any Chase Mileage Plus cardholder . Thanks !

nycityny

I have Premier Platinum status. I don't know if that's the difference.

coloradotraveler

jsloan do you have Premier or Elite or any kind of status ?

jsloan

I have 1K status.

So... in the past, the XN bucket has been accessible for any Premier member, or any cardholder. You can see the entire list of benefits here: Chase MP Explorer Card (Q&A, Benefits, Bonuses, Discussion, ....)

In the Wiki; note this line:

It's possible that they've removed this benefit, and since it's unpublished, we'd never know. However, the fact that the website still includes the text about this being an "exclusive" price -- when it clearly isn't, because I was able to see the 43K price when I wasn't logged in -- makes me think that this is more likely a glitch that will be resolved by waiting a couple of days. I just hope that the award space will still be there.

coloradotraveler

I called back a third time and the lady said something about it being an HN? flight and XN not available or something like that . She was also difficult to understand . I feel like I’m not getting a straight answer from them and I’ve explained the statement about “exclusively available” and it doesn’t seem to make a difference . Ugh .

jsloan

There are four inventory buckets used for economy award travel on United-operated flights.
YN/HN are both Everyday Economy awards; the difference is that YN has last-seat availability, whereas HN is capacity-controlled. YN is available to all Premier members and was a published benefit of the Explorer Card. (I couldn't find it earlier on the benefits website; I suspect it is still a benefit, though).

XN/X are both Saver Economy awards; XN frequently has more inventory than X. XN is available to all Premier members and was an unpublished benefit of the Explorer Card.

More information here: Decoding the alphabet soup - fare buckets for UA

All that said, the answer the agent was giving you was wrong. The nonstop is available in both YN and HN, so that wasn't why the message was being printed. At this point, there may be nothing you can do but wait.

coloradotraveler

jsloan thanks for all your help. I will indeed just wait it out a few days and if still doesn’t show that nonstop being 22.5k, I’ll grab one of the others with one stop and short layover for 22.5k. The good news is that on the return home, it is showing some nonstop flights back to DEN for 22.5 k.

coloradotraveler

Do any of you that show the nonstop one way flight from DEN to LIH July 21 have miles transferred into your account ? I don’t have any transferred in yet from Chase UR and I wonder if that’s why you are seeing that nonstop for 22.5k and I’m only seeing it for 43k. That is one theory of one of the 4 people I have talked to at United .

WineCountryUA

Pure guessing, seriously doubt that has a bearing

coloradotraveler

I deposited 1,000 points into MileagePlus today and then saw that nonstop for 22.5k. I hadn’t looked at that flight since yesterday and wished I would have checked again right before I deposited from points from Chase UR to see if that is what made the difference in me seeing it for 43k vs 22.5k. Just thought I would pass this on. Needless to say , I was excited to book our 4 flights for first ever trip to Hawaii next summer for 22.5k ! I then went back in and got nonstop flights for 22.5k coming home a week later . Pretty happy I got 4 RT tickets for 180,000 pts and some change!