Originally Posted by
everetl
Unfortunately the flights are almost empty up front. And last year this time there were plenty of flights available now for the summer. If everyone has booked these flights then why are they empty? It is not coincidental that there is not 1, and I repeat 1 flight available from IAH in MAY-AUG. And most likely to IAH as well.
I agree with your observation, but possibly not your conclusion. Last year I booked a SFO-LHR RT in BF and GF in early November. I remember being shocked by the availability at the time. O9, I9 on non-stops throughout much of July and August.
Here is my post about this crazy summer availability in early November of last year. In fact, I remember being so shocked that I though it might have been a mistake.
This year, I started checking in late October and there was NOTHING until last week. Then all of a sudden there was good availability SFO-LHR in GF for several July dates. Of course it was all O3, rather than the crazy availability of the previous year. Also, there are no return flights available as yet.
Though I was initially concerned that United was planning to clamp down on availability until after the new awards chart goes into effect, I am no longer convinced that this is what's going on (or that it is the only factor). Last year's wide open availability was really anomalous. In past years I have had to wait until December and January to find summer BF and GF availability, and it was almost always with a connection in ORD, EWR, etc., or it was connecting in Europe. In many cases there were only two seats available and I had to split us onto separate flights (which I was able to change as additional seats opened up). I tend to think that last year's wide open availability was the anomaly.
So...
I think it is possible that United is restricting availability until the new awards chart is implemented, but I don't think it is entirely clear yet. I'm hoping to see some availability for my August return flight appear in the next couple of months. I hope that you start to see some flights out of IAH. If I don't see anything by mid-January, I will join the chorus.