laurenanne

Hi,
I am Star Alliance Silver Member, which basically means nothing, but on my way to gold status this year. Anyway, trying to decide whether to fly in June on the 12th NYC-VIE in coach from EWR on United by way of Zurich, or in coach on Austrian Airlines, a partner, and a direct flight to Vienna, return June 25th/26th. I usually prefer direct flights, but my question is:

Which coach class is better? Premium Econ on United is terrible. Does the JFK-VIE have premium econ? What's the condition of their coach class if not?
Can I upgrade with miles on Austrian Air?

What percentage of points will transfer to my United account from flying partner Austrian Air? I am not booking the ticket, a travel agent is, so I don't know the booking code for the Aust. Air option yet.

Basically, if someone has a better idea of the pros and cons, I would appreciate the advice. Thanks!
Lauren

TPJ

Which program would you credit the miles to?

Beware some booking classes on OS do not earn miles or earn only 25-50% of miles (depending on the program). UA normally earns 100% miles in all booking classes.

Service-wise OS is better, but it it the status you want, so service shouldn't matter that much, right?

fassy

If you book a cheap eco ticket for June on OS now, I would bet it will only earn 25% mileage - even on M&M.

But as TPJ said, service in the eco cabin is way better and together with LX one of the best economy cabins in Europe in my opinion.

salesna

I agree about the service, but beware the OS 777 in Y -- it's an inhumane 10 abreast configuration whereas UA is 9 abreast.

JVPhoto

If you have enough stuff planned for the rest of the year that a 50-75% reduction in miles to your MileagePlus account can handle and still take you to gold you may like the service (even in Y) on Austrian.
But as others have said on Austrian you'll be 10 across in the back and UA is 9 with the option of being in EconomyPlus where you'll get some extra leg room. The flight over you may want to try and sleep more where the UA seats may do you better and not have to think about so much service. Flight home will be day that you could potentially be awake for more of.
Maybe try both? UA over and OS back? Also note that to hit UA Gold you'll have to spend at least $5000 of Premium Qualifying Dollars…the travel agent would have to make sure things are booked and ticketed through UA (ticket # starting with 016) in order for you to receive credit for that as well.

Kacee

UA does not have "premium economy." Economy plus is not a separate class of service, it is standard economy with more legroom, and is priced and sold as such.

laurenanne

Thanks for the advice and ideas. I am having trouble communicating with the travel agent who is Austrian and works for another company that is hosting me on this trip, and isn't particularly interested in my very specific queries.

I asked for the fare class and she said "coach." I explained what I was looking for, and I haven't heard back yet. If I can only get 25% of the miles though, I may suck up and do the connecting flight in UA. I hate coach on UA, but their extra legroom in "prem econ" isn't bad, and the miles are more important for gold at this point.

worldtrav

After you just posted in your original post that "Premium Economy on UA is terrible". It's gone from terrible to not bad somewhat quickly....

Sorry but that deserves a

laurenanne

Thanks. I said the legroom wasn't bad, not the entire service. And I meant to write econ plus, not prem econ. I was trying to figure out if any other airlines, specifically OS, had real prem econ like Air NZ or Qantas, or some version of econ plus that might be better than UA.

Sorry, but is the point here to nitpick my query or offer advice?

JVPhoto

I think it's because airlines like Qantas, Air NZ, ANA, Air France, Turkish Airlines, etc actually do have PREMIUM ECONOMY which is something with a different style seat, service, food etc that sits between regular economy and business. United offers EconomyPlus which is their own marketing lingo for the same class of service as economy in the same seat but just a little bit of extra leg room at the front of the cabin.

Are you just buying your airline tickets through the TA? If so why bother and just do it yourself where you can see the fare class?

Kacee

I suspect you want more than just advice, you want accurate advice. So yes, accuracy is important.

There's really not much to add to what's already been said here. UA will be more comfortable in economy plus due to the extra legroom. The food and service will probably be better on OS. A nonstop is almost always preferable. You probably will accrue either no or very limited miles on a deep discount OS fare. Which flight you should choose depends on which of these criteria are most important to you.

laurenanne

Thanks again. I just got word from the travel agent that the fare class on OS is S.

I can't buy directly because they are paying for it. Anyway, I think I will go with United, deal with the layover, get the mileage and money earned towards gold, and sit in econ plus.

Thanks,
L

JVPhoto

According to the chart OS S class = 0%

Captain Schmidt

From my perspective, the difference in Economy "service" can generally be measured in very small degrees. Yes, OS (or LX) might be slightly better than UA, but its still economy, the food is still going to be barely edible and unless you bizarrely get a flight with a very light load, you are not going to have much room. Me, I'd take the extra leg-room that UA's E+ gives you.