Originally Posted by jsloan

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

Connecting flights are often cheaper than nonstop flights; there's nothing particularly logical about the way airfare is priced. I always think of it as "UA is paying me to fly from XYZ," which works out to be a good deal in my book.


You do not have to upgrade the return in order to upgrade the outbound. Don't do a search for upgrades; just buy the ticket the way you would normally; after it tickets, you'll find an "Upgrade Flight" button in your reservation.


$2300 for business outbound, economy return doesn't sound like a bargain. If this is the option you select, I'd be tempted to wait a little while to see what else might pop up. The same is true for the award flight, incidentally, although sales on cash fares tend to be somewhat more common than sales on awards. (If/when they offer sales on award tickets, it's generally a discounted number of miles off of economy travel).

Hope this helps. April is still a long time away, so there's still a chance.