Originally Posted by Surface Interval

You could fly into BRU and take the train - about 1.5hr. Do not see any saver into BRU, but coming back there is: total 85k. Which is just what you would have if you transferred UR to UA.

Even better: You can fly to CDG for 55k and leave from BRU for 30k - making a o/w train trip.

Originally Posted by deltame

Good idea below as saver award availability from NYC to CDG on ua.com appears to be far less than to LHR. OP can travel cheaply between LHR-CDG using BA miles (transfer from MR to BA). I checked ba.com and it shows LHR-CDG each way costs only 4.5K Avios points plus $20. [ETA] Notice the award type from ba.com says "Reward Flight Saver", i.e., no taxes/fees, not sure if this is a promotion or not.

Another consideration is to check flights from/to PHL for travel on ua miles. Its a relatively easy commute between NYC-PHL.

Originally Posted by hard2please

For the outbound flight, there's a non-stop to EDI for 30K United (leaves around 8pm) that has almost NO taxes and fees! You could still use Avios to get to CDG, or even a low-cost flight might make sense.

Originally Posted by JPG3392

After checking a bit on the United website, I found a saver award for 60,000 miles + $96.20 if you can leave one day earlier and fly RT Newark--Brussels. Here are the details.

Wednesday, June 20:

UA 28 Newark--London Heathrow; lv 7:35 PM arr 7:40 AM next day
SN 2094 LHR--Brussels; lv 10:05 AM arr 12:20 PM

Thursday, June 28:

AC 833 Brussels--Montreal; lv 10:40 AM arr 12:20 PM
UA 4968 Montreal--Newark; lv 2:53 PM arr 4:46 PM

I realize that it's not ideal, but it seemed worth calling it to your attention.