Originally Posted by
csudell
I would say I'm being "cautious" by trying to accumulate the cash equivalent points at this point as a backup in case I cant get the award flights - since I do not know how flexible I will be able to be.... and that i want 4 tickets may make it more difficult.
That is exactly the trade-off. You also may end up wanting to look at paying for some of the passengers using miles and some using points or cash. It's a tough situation when you don't have flexibility.
My husband and I havent used our United accounts in years, so I have to have some activity in them in order to be eligible for the larger sign up bonuses available right now (65k). I could transfer some ultimate rewards activity to them to get them going.
You can also apply for the United offer in-branch. Much easier if you have one nearby.
But before you do anything, you really should run some search on the UA (or other airlines) site to see how availability looks.