clm4700

I must make an international trip at Christmas this year. For now the United only has the standard award available. And the economy class seats are almost filled up for the dates of my travel. Shall I book it now?

I know it is possible saver awards would be available at last minute. Can I change my booking to the saver award and get half of my miles back later? If yes, I can have my flight assured and save miles in the end.

I'd appreciate it if anyone can tell me whether I can do the award ticket switch and get some miles back. Thanks.

sabbasolo

Yes, but you will have to pay any applicable change fees and also possibly late award booking fees if applicable.

clm4700

Thank you for your quick reply. Given the high cost of airfares at Christmas, I think it is worth it even if I have to pay the fees. Am I right? Thanks again.

alex_b

Essentially yes you can but depending on status level you may need to pay change fees for each change. As a 1k I have called in on the morning of each segment and changed a standard award to a saver award, sometimes I've had to chase up UA on getting the mileage refunded.

Mike Jacoubowsky

If you're *G or lower, the only reason to book a standard award "early" (earlier than 21 days out, so you avoid the "close in" fee) is if you are truly concerned the flight will sell out and there won't be any alternatives that would suit your need. A standard award doesn't change in cost (aside from the close-in fee) and gets you any available standard coach seat on any plane, regardless of how expensive UA might be trying to sell it for.

If you book the standard seat before you have to, and a save seat opens up in the meantime, you'll have to pay to redeposit the miles and rebook.

Of course, you should balance that against whatever the close-in charge is, because save awards often open up at the last minute.

Another strategy is to take advantage of the free date changes you can make with an award. Book a saver award for a date you can get, then get it changed if the date you want becomes available. If the date doesn't become available, pay the redeposit fee and book the standard award.

OMAguy

Two Things:

1. It is my understanding that Standard Award space no longer equals any available seat in coach for non-elites or non-Chase Explorer credit card holders. Doesn't there have to be space in HN now for a non-elite standard award?

2. Free date changes no longer exist for non-elites.

alex_b

I believe all credit card holders also get last seat standard award availability.

Mike Jacoubowsky

Wow, I didn't know! I thought when Jeff talked about "changes you'll like" that he was addressing Explorer Card holders.

More reason to make sure everyone in my family uses a card that credits to my MP account. Thanks for the updates!

mgcsinc

With the recent change to last-minute saver availability, combined with overall tiny Y availability during holidays, I'm not sure I'd bank on there being last-minute saver that opens up.

Mike Jacoubowsky

Ah, my faith in Jeff and the Explorer Card restored!

Ridiculous to think that, even with a PQD requirement, a UA Silver/2P gets fewer benefits than an Explorer Card holder.

mgcsinc

E+, mileage bonus, and better IRROPs handling are extremely valuable benefits.

OMAguy

you are right - Mileage Plus Explorer Cardholders (and presumably other cards branded by Chase and United) are exempt from the HN cap. i will update my OP.

craz

1 reason to book ASAP is seat choice, the longer a person waits the greater the chance they will end up in a middle seat in a row that they dont want. If they couldnt care less which seat they actually sit in then my pt is moot

mgcsinc

This is one big reason I go with the standard-and-rebook rather than the hold-off-and-wait method. But, in truth, I have never seen a flight where a seat that I'd find acceptable didn't open up at the last minute for at least a bit, of flights where I've watched the seatmap closely. I've also had success hopping onto flights at T-14 and getting some good no-show seat.

Mike Jacoubowsky

Right, but how many times do you and I check our itins per month... per week.... maybe even per day? You and I and others like us have developed a sense of how things work on UA. We know when to hold 'em, when to fold 'em. We understand the various timings for seat upgrades (although UA isn't nearly as reliable on that as they used to be, especially for 48 & 72hrs). The average person has no sense of timing and isn't going to see all those great seats open up. The average person doesn't understand why it was such a thrill to snag, what was it, row 17 & 21 on appropriately-configured 777s back in the day?

So I think you're right; the advice to consider booking early (at standard award rates) to get a good seat is probably a good idea for many. And I think I may have hit on what has affected many of us the most about this merger. It threw off our timing. We had a really good idea of what was coming next back in the day. Maybe we'll get there again.
E+, maybe. There's more to a decent seat than just legroom, and even the standard economy seats on an intra-Europe LH flight feel better to me than any UA E+ seat (in terms of SF/Squirm Factor). Mileage bonus for a 2P is just 25%, and if you're only flying enough miles for 2P, the bonus quite possibly comes to a very small percent of your overall miles when you factor in CC use. IRROPs absolutely a big positive. Even as a 2P. I experienced that often.