jsloan

Economy or business?

If you're judging availability based upon one, once-daily flight, on what appears to be the busiest day of the week, then, yes, your expectations are misguided.

All United premier levels (as well as holders of qualified United-branded Chase credit cards) have the same access to saver economy awards -- and it is considerably greater than what general members get. However, it's still nowhere near last-seat availability.

UA will open award seats closer to departure if they're not able to sell them. (For example, tomorrow's flight has award availability). As a 1K, you can change awards at any time with no fee. A common technique is to book something suboptimal, as a backup plan, and then watch inventory on the preferred flight.

YVR guy

Great, tell me the dates your see for NON-STOP flights, as mentioned in my original post. The 1K desk couldnt find any either.

Thanks for the advice. Looking for Economy 25K round trip

WineCountryUA

There is no such "special" 1K benefit.

All elites have access to XN saver economy space which is generally better than non-elite X saver economy space, but this is a benefit for all elites including Silver.
This is a real benefit.

Plat and higher elites have access to IN saver premium cabin space which is rarely better than non-elite I saver premium space and as mentioned I or IN space is rare for North American routes.
If you were hoping for significant access to premium cabin space for North American routes, you will be disappointed.

onthesam

I'm seeing a lot of inventory. Make sure you're logged in when you search.

First search was 3/5. 17k for general members (not logged in). 12.5k miles when logged in.

EDIT: a bunch more dates are available.

mahasamatman

And United credit card holders regardless of status, too.

Only including Mon-Thu in March/April:

Outbound - 05 March, 07 March, 03 April, 10 April
Return - 18 March is the only one I see

But lots of 1-stop availability.

When booking awards, if you expect to always be able to book a non-stop, you will be disappointed. This is true of any airline - just try booking the YVR-LAX non-stop on AA.

WineCountryUA

That is probably the worst timeframe to look for awards. Awards are generally more available if looking further out or closer in. Any early award space is long gone by 3 months and in the 1-3 month dead zone, UA's interest is finding ways to sell space for hard cash. Getting closer to departure and if UA does not see the space selling out, then more space may be released.

There is no fixed amount of award space released for any flight. There is likely a rough percentage across the system and some targets for various routes, but if cash sales are running ahead of expectations, there will be less likelihood of award space being release. And if cash sales are running behind, UA will first open up lower cost fare inventories and then perhaps more award space.

docbert

The real benefit for 1K is the ability to change flights without fee, which thus also includes the ability to waitlist.

Book the 1-stop, call and waitlist the non-stop (you should be able to do 2 of them). If it doesn't clear, keep an eye on it within the day or so before flight to see if space opens and call and either reboot or SDC.

YVR guy

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice. With this new education, I now understand the strategy and how to work within the system.

elhombre

I've never flown to Europe in business class using points, mainly because I have 3 kids. This time I am going by myself to london for work....Im having a hard time finding business class flights from phx to lhr in early may that are reasonable. They want 155k points for a one way ticket. I know some about points, but certainly not as much as some people here. Am I doing something wrong? Should I wait last minute to book? I want to fly from phx to lhr around 5/2 and CDG to PHX 5/13-14

WineCountryUA

Award tickets come in different flavors
-- Saver awards have the lowest mileage requirement (60K for business) but also limited inventory availability
-- Saver awards with partner airline flights are a bit higher mileage requirement (70K)
-- EveryDay awards are the highest (variable) mileage price (up to 155K) but greater availability

To get saver awards, every segment needs to be available as a saver type. So from PHX, you will be connecting to a gateway city (IAH, ORD, EWR, SFO, LAX, DEN or potential some Canadain airports). One approach is to look from the gateway airports to Europe /LHR, first and if successful then work of figuring out how to connect from PHX. However, the truth is business savers at this point (3 months out) are going to be very rare.
Fixed dates are not helpful, mid-week is better.
You can waitlist for business if you book an economy saver but the risk is it never clears.

greenteamuimui

Question about award calendar....

A few days ago I was able to see some (very few but some) business award seats available from Feb into April from west coast (SFO/LAX) to Prague/Vienna via Munich/Frankfurt either with Lufthsaas or United...however, when I am looking at it today, nothing shows up on the calender even going to Aug and beyond...Is this normal? Is the site down or is there currently a glitch?

This is my first time-ish looking to book award seats through star alliance. Thanks!

WineCountryUA

While there are present some problems with SQ, TH & TP bookings, not aware of any recent issue with either UA or LH award bookings using UA miles,

One truism of award bookings -- award available comes and goes without warning. There are many other folks also looking and booking; and as paid sells increase of decrease, the airlines may change availability. It is dynamic and can / does change.

FLYMSY

Jacketwatch

Another option I discovered is to go ORD-DEL. Presently there are flights on biz with good connections on ANA and from DEL DXB is a short flight, about 3.5 hrs. I hope when our time comes I can get one of those flights and then we can stay over in DEL for a fee days too. We booked a cruise out of DXB embarking Feb 3 2020. When those times become available I hope the ANA option is open like it is now for a Dec. 2019 booking

Joe Perniciaro

How close to a departure date does UA open up biz class award space? Expertflyer shows biz class availability. I've never waited to book a flight so trying not be concerned.
Thank you,
Joe