Originally Posted by
SF_DUKE
Int'l business savers are near impossible from SFO to Europe unless you don't mind connecting through ORD or IAD.
However, there seems to be more inventory of Y (of course) or F savers. Just not C savers on non-stop direct routes and with the new configuration. Not sure if they are held back since many travelers are willing to pay for it. Or if they are taken immediately when inventory opens up.
I am willing to bet it is the first scenario where C inventory is held back. I would suggest looking for F saver inventory and waitlist for C saver in the meantime. Good luck.
Exactly, it's extremely hard to get XC/I inventory on the non-stop SFO-FRA LH and UA flights. My experience with ANA trying random dates many months out suggests that most XC availability is held back except mid-week (Tue & Wed) sometimes. SFO-MUC I on LH is slightly more open (again only mid-week M, T, W) but you get to your destination in the evening so unless you are connecting onwards to a longhaul outside Europe you end up wasting a day. In general, I have found LH to be much better than UA in terms of releasing inventory. You can try connecting to LH through LAX, SEA, YVR and DEN (in that order) if you want to minimize time spent traveling in domestic F.
Another option is SFO-JFK in p.s. and then JFK-FRA/MUC/ZRH on LH, LX or SQ. Availability out of JFK is much better than out of SFO.
In June, the LX SFO-ZRH will give you another option but I believe that is the old Swiss C.
Once UA refurbishes the 777s, SFO-LHR might be another option though that will probably add another intra-Europe connection to FRA or MUC what with BMI cutting down at LHR. You could also try SFO-LAX-LHR with LAX-LHR on NZ though I believe UA blanket-blocks this and NZ inventory is supposed to be pretty sparse.
Finally, you can always try flying a UA 3 class plane to ORD and connecting there (see the thread on domestic 3 class schedule with particular emphasis on the new configuration). Unfortunately, there are no new intl. 3 class to IAD or DEN right now.
To sum up, a direct C award ex-SFO is a pain in the ... if you want to leave on Fri, Sat or Sun.