jsloan

I had a similar experience in January of this year, returning from Asia. I ended up flying on Tuesday. But, yes, there's additional flexibility award travel -- but it's entirely possible that OP ends up with something like ZRH-JFK (I) / EWR-AUS-SFO (XN).

wco81

Devaluation hasn't officially occurred yet has it?

I'm looking at TATL almost to the end of the calendar and all I see are some LX, TAP and LOT flights at the lowest redemption prices.

For about the past 6-9 months, I haven't seen UA metal offered for J savers at all.

But they are releasing some close-in inventory, like instead of next April/May, if you want to leave in the next 2-3 weeks, you will see LX availability and then within 2 weeks, some LH and UA flights. That's been a pattern for a few months. The TATL from SFO on UA is to MUC though, not to FRA, for whatever reason.

Hard to say if this is temporary before the dynamic pricing charts or this is going to be the new normal.

Some people can book refundable hotel reservations and see if they get the flights a couple of weeks before departure. But they may even be able to book a return flight award before they depart.

jsloan

Yes, for flights that are post November 15. What hasn't occurred yet are changes to awards that are purely on partner metal. It's just that it's not necessarily going to be easy to get from Europe to SFO on partner metal the first weekend of January.

SFOrunner

Are the partner award requirements expected to change as well?

jsloan

They haven't announced any changes, but I think it's universally expected that the partner award requirements will change as soon as they can figure out the logistics. My guess -- purely speculation -- is that they will wait until the rumored *A-wide dynamic award pricing model is ready. I suspect this will mean an increase in partner availability, but frequently at a huge increase in cost -- similar to everyday vs. saver awards on UA metal now.

ChinaShrek

I am looking to fly back to the US on 1/4/20 for 1/5/20 from Bangkok to Boston. I have been looking for Business Saver seats for more than 5 months and nothing has appeared. I am starting to worry.

Kensterfly

Look for a partner airline. UA sucks at putting it's own seats out there for saver. Also, consider departing a different airport. We couldn't find anything for IAH to FRA. We found out that LH flies nonstop out of AUS to FRA. Lots of Biz Saver seats available. And it's much easier for us to depart from AUS anyway. As we got closer to departure, a lot more carriers started showing up. Such as AC, LX, TK, etc. But few if any UA seats.

wco81

Too bad we can't post polls.

I'd be curious to see what percentage of MP elites on FT were planning to continue to spend and earn UA RDMs at the same levels they have been.

godbreath

Are there usually more/less award openings on July 4th? I'm trying fly back from CDG -> SFO and theres availability right now on AC and TAP, but I would prefer UA since it is a direct flight. Wondering if it is worth waiting to see if UA will release saver space on July 4th 2020 or if I should just book with other airlines now while its still available.

wco81

Are you sure you're seeing awards out to July 4th?

That seems too far out.

tods27

That's going to be a tough time to find saver C seats. It's the weekend and pretty much the end of a holiday for the US. That being said, I did see some 90K C seats on the 2nd and the 9th. The 2nd is through ADD, but the 9th is via PEK and ZRH.

ChinaShrek

Will UA release seats in October or November? If not, I may have to buy a one-way ticket back home. I have to work on January 6!

godbreath

I saw awards for AC and TAP through aeroplan. UA hasn't released it yet for July 4th. From CDG -> SFO in June, there is only 1 availability and it is on a Saturday (same day of the week as July 4th if that helps)

jsloan

If UA releases any business saver inventory, it will likely be within about 7 days of the flight. I say this based on my experience this January trying to get stateside from HKG. They sold every J seat on every Asia-US departure from Friday through Sunday. Many of them sold out a few weeks in advance. Now, it's possible that they cleared a bunch of award space earlier, and I just missed it, but they really haven't been doing much of that.

I think your best bet is partner inventory. Keep watching, and try multiple US gateways. BKK-ZRH-BOS or BKK-FRA-BOS might be perfect, but try IAD, NYC, PHL, etc. also. As long as you get within an easy flight of Boston, I'd call it a win.

Good luck!

Kensterfly

I tend to grab a partner seat well in advance rather than hoping for a saver on UA close in. I can always change flights if a better UA seat comes up.