Originally Posted by chicagoflyer
The problem is that Saver (25k) award seats are too difficult to redeem in the first place.
Did you try any other routings? Via SFO/LAX/DEN might give you more options.
Originally Posted by chicagoflyer
My friend has earned 28k miles in UAL. She is trying to book an award ticket for a heavily flown direct route (ORD-SMF) and she is doing it 3 months in advance.
Booking 3 months in advance is not considered a lot of lead time. Some on this board book 330 days out to make sure they get the desired seats/dates/flights they want.
Also, you said yourself that this is a heavily flown route. Why would UA want to give away a seat for zero revenue when they could get the revenue for the ticket which will probably be sold?