kd2330

Thank you for all the advice/information So basically with no status (yet), even sitting PE will probably not get me an upgrade. I have a month until the flights are released for booking, but I do feel I have a better idea of what to expect. Please add anything else. Sorry for any confusion. I did warn I am a newbie, but hoping to do more traveling soon. This forum is an excellent source of information. Hopefully someday I will know enough to actually add some value.

kd2330

Thank you. This gave me a great perspective and concrete information. Knowing others experience is very helpful.

btscott

Another newb, so forgive me:-)

Trying to use Amex points to get to Johannesburg on business class in May 2024 and return June 2024 for 2 people. Have 300,000 or so points. Figure United or ANA would be my best bets on making this happen. Maybe incorrect on that. Flying from SFO. Happy to route through Europe, EWR or JFK. Whichever makes most sense. Have a little flexibility on the way there. But, do have to be in Johannesburg by May 26th for a 27th safari vehicle pickup. On the way out, there isn't as much flexibility.

Appreciate any advice on making this happen. Should I just sign up for Expert Flyer?

jcturnbull

2023? as in less than 8 weeks from today? Your best bet is going to be AmexTravel PayWithPoints to reduce the out of pocket cost. UA will almost surely not be releasing partner-level awards in advance that would otherwise be bookable from Amex transfer partners, with the only possible exception being close-in. There are four seats available for April 4th and 3 for April 8th, but I don't think booking your safari flight a few days out is going to be a winning strategy.

btscott

Sorry, long night of work yesterday. Meant 2024. I corrected the post.

jcturnbull

Makes more sense, thanks for clarifying. In that case, UA schedule opens 337 (I think) days in advance, but unlike some carriers (NH), award space is not guaranteed. So, if you have specific flights in mind, setting EF alerts for "I" space can help. No guarantee on this route any will be released though. For more general information about saver award release, check this: UA Saver Award/Upgrade Inventory (& partners)-when is it released? Ever any business?. Another way you maybe could do this is booking X (saver economy) if available to lock in the flights, and then waitlist for I. Be aware this method may be going away sooner than later. More information here: Consolidated "Waitlist for Award Seats Questions/Issues". Lastly, LH group might be a good bet to look for, as sometimes they release I space at schedule open (I can't comment if this is guaranteed.) But, coming from the west coast then connecting MUC/FRA/ZRH onto JNB one-stop might be a good way to look at more options. That's all the information I really have on the subject, hopefully others can chime in if I missed anything. Best of luck! Great job looking at this early, it really maximizes your chances.

edit: one correction, booking X and waitlisting for I is done only with United MP miles, which you didn't specify if you had any. For Amex, AF through CDG might be another possibility on Flying Blue. That's not really a UA-forum question, but I wanted to give you a starting point to look for more.

WineCountryUA

Generally at best 330 days and not all awards (UA and/or partners) or paid fare classes may be that early. May see some inventory a few days earlier but very unreliable. Beginning of Schedule is very "distributed" and generally not useful for getting award space or lowest prices.

iahphx

With the implosion of South African Airways, flying to South Africa from the USA is difficult and expensive. I think there are only 2 routes that are presenting operating: UA's EWR-JNB flight and DL's ATL-JNB flight. I guess UA may bring back a seasonal IAD-CPT flight and, in theory, South African Airways is supposed to reinstate their one-stop IAD-JNB flight someday.

Given this sad state of affairs, I guess it's not surprising that UA is seemingly making award travel on its EWR-JNB extremely expensive. From what I see, COACH award seats start at 80,000 miles each way and biz class is, well, basically infinity.

In the old days (before Covid) I would frequently redeem my UA miles for the SAA nonstops (Star Alliance) for 40K in coach.

Anyone have any tips and tricks to flying this route? You can redeem AA miles to fly Qatar through Doha for 40K. A brutal 24 hour trip, though. There are theoretically some Qatar biz class seats bookable with Alaska at reasonable prices, but good luck finding them. I don't see any.

aCavalierInCoach

I think you answered your own question - less competition, less need to offer generous incentives to book or make awards available?

Traveling via europe is not ideal (especially from the west coast), but it's in theory the best bet as non-stop traffic is going to remain thin. Bigger problem here is that LH Group has gotten very stingy with Africa awards - not familiar with the demand profile there so could be idiosyncratic and could be market. I've been trying to book to East Africa since the window opened up - LH, for instance, hasn't released a single seat to Nairobi (that hasn't been snatched up between my daily searches). All availability I've seen has been on Egyptair and I'd rather just pay cash than deal with that.

Reasonable J seats with alaska died with the EK partnership; you can't book one ways (well you can, at round trip rates) so while availability is sometimes there, will regularly run you 280k per ticket.

WineCountryUA

Standard awards YN, not X/XN. That's part of the issue..

And SA went under for poor revenue numbers (among other reasons)

There is a whole thread on rising mileage redemptions -- "Dynamic Award Pricing" by UA; questions, experiences, .... (No Award Chart Nov 2019)

rankourabu

Strange that ET and MS seats are not available. Those always seem plentiful

aCavalierInCoach

I'll do ET reluctantly for the first time in august, but as far as I can tell MS seats not being available is more or less a blessing.

prometa

I’m booked on EWR-CPT and CPT-IAD, so there’s at least two more. I’m not sure of the seasonality.

rankourabu

There is nothing wrong with the MS 787 (or ET for that matter, I'd fly ET over United any day)

escapefromphl

Close in LH C&F often opens up for less than infinity.