FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - United Saver Award/Upgrade Inventory (& partners) - when is it released? [Archive]
Old Jul 14, 2019, 5:42 pm
  #523  
SFOrunner
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: San Francisco, CA (SFO)
Programs: UA 1K, UA .53 MM, Marriott Gold, Nexus, GE, TSA Pre, Hertz PC
Posts: 581
One-Way: Germany / Scandinavia to SFO

My girlfriend and I booked a one-way into CPH for a NYE vacation, and have yet to book a return flight home. Ideally we would fly from CPH through FRA, back to SFO on Sunday, January 5th, but at this point there is no saver award availability through UA.com. That said, we can be flexible with when we leave, and where we leave from (Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, Frankfurt, Munich, etc...) Is the below strategy a recipe for disaster?

I currently have seat alerts set on ExpertFlyer for non-stop routes like FRA-SFO, MUC-SFO, CPH-SFO, and ZRH-SFO, looking for I and O availability on January 4th and 5th. Obviously if a saver fare comes available between now and then, I'll book it. But I'm planning on that not happening anytime soon, and instead planning on booking sometime within seven (7) days of January 5th. Taking advantage of my 1K status, I can book / cancel / change award flights up to T-24. And my dummy bookings for FRA / MUC-SFO for July 15-22 (as well as in weeks past) indicate that LH will likely have O availability at least to BOS, DEN, ORD or IAD.

Is waiting until we're in Europe and within seven days of our planned return a dumb idea? Or is it likely that we'll find some saver awards for premium TATL tickets, similar to the availability I see today.

Last edited by SFOrunner; Jul 14, 2019 at 5:46 pm Reason: Edited for clarity.
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