How do I get access to coupon connection? Heard of it. Never figured out how to get to it...

I'm also a fairly new poster. But love reading these forums everyday. Also curious about what coupon connection is? From what little i've read from searching it sounds like you need a specific post count to have access?

Well I guess I should get started!

Hold on! At most airlines (AA is the one exception I know about), you can't upgrade at all (no matter how many miles you have) at UA from the lowest ("deep discount") fares. You first have to buy an upgradeable fare. (At some airlines, on some flights, the only upgradeable fares seem to be the ones just below "fully refundable"!)

At AA, you can upgrade from almost any economy fare (O or Q excepted in some circumstances, and btw those circumstances just decreased) by paying a co-pay (now $350 each way) in addition to 25000 miles. Depending on the airline, it may or may not work out roughly the same as other airlines which force you to buy a higher fare, with one key difference: The other airlines force you to buy a higher fare and then find out if you'll get upgraded or not, while AA only charges you the co-pay if your upgrade actually goes through.

Second, you cannot generally upgrade on partner or codeshare flights; it has to a flight operated by the airline you have miles with. So with all of these airlines, if you choose to stopover in Europe or the Middle East, you can only at best upgrade as far as the connection takes. While if you choose to connect in the US and fly a US airline that flies from the US straight to DEL, you at least qualify to upgrade all the way (if you buy a qualifying fare), though how realistic the chances of such upgrade are could be a separate question.

So you have to start by deciding, what is more important to you, the upgrade or the stopover (if you can only get an upgrade even halfway by choosing an ailrine that won't give you a stopover you value).

To your specifics, it's per journey direction (but only as far as the airline you hold miles with will take you, and only if there are upgrade seats available on all those legs). At any rate, you pay per journey direction (even if you succeed at upgrading only one leg). Most often, it's 25000 miles (plus co-pay at AA, or plus the increased cost on an upgradeable fare at most other airlines).

You can't. Not yet. You need some minimum number of posts, and I believe that number is 3 digits long.

(And frivolous posts just to get to that number will be frowned upon, and may disqualify you. It's intended to mean you can only get access after you've been participating actively in FT for quite a while.)

Thanks Sdsearch. Good point. I think I favor the stopover, and that is that. Maybe I'll get to use some of my points when I retire...

Understood... I understand that us new posters will have to wait. But could you tell us about what is at the end of the rainbow for us to look forward to?

Deleted. I did a search and found the answer to how access to Coupon Connection would be provided.

If would choose EWR-DEL non-stop on CO. Its a very nice service.
However, since the OP wants a stopover in the Middle East, I strongly suggest going to JFK and doing EK to DXB and EK DXB-DEL. EK is way better service than UA as most people know.

Coupon connection is a forum where you can exchange miles in your program (say AA) for miles in another program say UA. The other Fter with whom you make a deal will issue you a ticket on UA and you do the same for him/her in another program. This is for FTers who are 90 days old and with 90 posts.

You could stop over in Hong Kong by taking Cathay Pacific JFK-HKG-DEL.

Coming back you could stop off in Brussels by changing from JetAirways to AA.

That would be a RTW award.

That's one way of accomplishing it. I doubt the OP wants to go W. out of WAS as it seems he/she wants to stop over in the Middle East. Either way, their employer is paying some portion of this so I don't think an award is what they had in mind.

Hmmm. I like that. It might add a little travel time, but interesting nonetheless. Thanks!

Not to shill for AA and OW, but this can be done with a single booking via aa.com . Do note that the fare is more than double by going through HKG.

hope your trip works out. please follow-up on this thread as the plans gel.

will do. The double the cost argument typically doesn't fly with my employer, but i also haven't been to Brussels lately.

Thanks again,