Originally Posted by
Sheela Jaya
So, AAA-BBB-CCC and CCC-DDD are both available as saver awards but AAA-BBB-CCC-DDD is not. Is that expected?
Yes, that’s expected — it happens quite frequently.
Originally Posted by
Sheela Jaya
Any way around this? I tried contacting united through the message service but the agent was also unable to make the full award show up. They offered to connect the two awards if I paid for the domestic leg separately with miles. Is that my best option?
Multi-city search will probably make it appear; you’ll still end up getting charged for CCC-DDD separately. UA’s award engine may or may not find all combinations, and even if it found that combination, it might not decide to offer the saver award on the connecting flight. The ability to build awards segment-by-segment like you’re attempting went away more than 5 years ago.
Originally Posted by
ArnoldB
Is it unusual that there is literally NO (saver / *A partner program) award availability whatsoever for PPT-SFO?
Not in the least.
Originally Posted by
ArnoldB
I have a hard time imaging all the saver award space for the next 365 days was already snatched up.
Why would you think that there was any saver award space in the next 365 days to snatch up in the ifrst place?
Originally Posted by
ArnoldB
And I also see that a lot of upcoming flights still have a lot of space in business class.
Indeed, and UA may open partner award space for those flights at any time — but probably won’t. They will try to sell the seats first, and there’s a good chance they will succeed. The underlying assumption in your question — that there is some quantity of saver award space allocated to every flight — is flawed. UA manages award inventory based upon its projections of how many seats it won’t be able to sell. If they think they can sell every seat — including at a discount, via a buy-up or an upgrade instrument — they will not open any saver award space.