as long as ZRH-OGG return is within a year of purchase ;)

I know that, but isn't it possible to buy an extra stop on an award ticket for something like $100.

I almost forgot, and I'd like to add:

While technically possible to do a 2xOJ with a stopover in your origin (for the "free" one way) it is often times not possible to get this to ticket. I ran into this problem in December, then again in Jan, and again just today. With that said, what prices ok online, or is within the rules, and what actually books and tickets is not always the same. So, for that reason if you don't need the one way, don't even worry about it, and definatly don't lose sleep over not getting to "use it" as doing so (via your orgin city) would probably not be worth the hassles it inevitably would cause.

Hello, I am fairly new to flyertalk so sorry if I missed something in reading though earlier posts. Can you confirm that the following routing in valid in Y for 42.5k miles? LAX-PTY-LIM/UIO-PTY-IAD(stopover)-HNL. The return does satisfy MPM+15% so this isn't a problem.

Question about stopover rules
 

I was pricing out an award ticket on UA like this:

origin(us)-connection1(asia)-connection2(asia)-destination(asia)
(repeat for return)

This comes out to an awesome 65k which is great, but I am wondering what the rules are for stopover and if it will allow me to convert one or both of those connections into stopovers instead so I can visit that place for a couple of days?

I tried to do this online by using multiple destinations, but the engine shows no availability between the connections, even though when I search origin-destination, the connections are there (unavoidable).

The reason I am not using specific cities is because there are multiple choices for which connections I can take, although always that same setup with 2 connections.

Thanks for the help!

You're allowed one stopover on a roundtrip award. Stopovers count as >24 hrs at your connection point, so you can get a free quick look around a city if the airport and tourist sights are close.

Also you may consider additionally using an open-jaw at your destination if you're happy to pay out of your own pocket for a low cost intra-asia flight with another carrier.

For example:
Origin - Conn 1 (stopover)
Conn 1 - Conn 2 (Open jaw)
Conn 2 - Intended Destination (BOOKED AND PAID FOR SEPARATELY)
Destination - Origin (via any route but with no connections >24hrs)

I would suggest researching the flights you want (and noting down the availability, flight numbers, dates etc). Then book the straight roundtrip online and call United within 24hrs to create any stopovers or open jaws that you require.

@alex_b

Thanks
So I could just do a simple round trip if I wanted only 1 stopover:
origin - conn1 (stopover) - conn2 - destination - conn2 - conn1 - origin

Except the stopover cannot be booked online so I would have to do it by calling, is that right?

Looks good. You can try to book it online, using Multi-City search. Be very careful, and input the exact days and each one way connection. Example:

Orgin-Conn1
Date of travel

Conn1-Conn2
Date of travel (days later of course)

Conn2-Conn1 (or try just conn2-origin, but sometimes that doesn't work though)
date leaving to head home

Conn1-Origin
Day connecting flight takes off.

Yep, if you can't book via multicity search as suggested by Stubtify.

Another Newbie, here. Here's what I want to do, and since I cannot book it online and will need to call, I'd like to know I am asking for something valid. I'm Premier Silver and I want to book a Saver award with the fewest miles possible.

GVA>SFO (dest1)
RNO> either DEN or LAX>NYC (dest2)
IAD>GVA

1. So, is this a valid combination - one stop-over and two open jaws?
   
2. Also, many of the RNO>NYC flights connect in SFO, but my impression from what I read here is that those will not work. Is this correct?
   
3. Is there a limit to the number of flights I can waitlist? I don't like the current RNO>NYC availability and am hoping something better opens up.
   
4. Does it make sense to try to waitlist portions of the RNO>NYC leg separately? i.e., RNO> DEN, DEN>NYC?

Thanks for your help! My family had never done the research to realize that we could do a stop over and open jaws on award round trips - this opens lots of new options for us.

is that true?

i'm not stopping over at my origin on transit. so i dont think it counts as two RT.

for example, if my origin is SIN, does it matter if i transit at SIN or BKK to get to my next destination?

if the system doesnt allow it, then it just forces us to do another routing. but changes nothing in terms of destinations.

have another question on connecting flights

is there a time constraint for connecting flights? like within 4 hours for domestic and 24 hours if arriving via an international flight?

is there a rule that we must take the earliest connecting flight possible?

for example, from AAA -> BBB (another country) onwards to CCC (domestic flight, same country as BBB)

when i land at BBB can i opt to take a later flight but within 24 hours so that i can squeeze in some sightseeing?



likewise for a domestic flight, must be it within 4 hours or the next earliest domestic flight?

thank you!

If you read back through the thread people have reported being able to route back through JNB multiple times per trip, but that was destination not origin. There doesn't appear to be anything in the rules, but you still may struggle to book it.

You can do as many <24hr stops as you like to get in mini-stopovers, read back through this thread for some crazy examples. Domestically you can only get <4hrs (or next flight, whichever is longer), but by domestic United mean "the US" so you could do a domestic connection in say NZ with 24hrs in Auckland.

alright! thanks! very helpful!

i do read back, but not all the pages

Hi All,

Considering a trip to SE Asia in November as a good use of my miles. This is the routing I'm considering:

Washington DC -> Hanoi (Stopover)
Hanoi -> Bangkok (Destination)
Overland, ending up in Phnom Penh (Open Jaw)
Phnom Penh -> Washington DC

Is that a valid roundtrip? Or do I need to break it up into one-ways?

I've done some searching on the United site and I can find availability for each leg when I look at each as a one way, but the site seems to refuse to accept the itinerary if I put it in as a multi-city trip. Is this a trip that I would also have book over the phone?

Also, I'd love to do this as a Saver 1st class trip, but there isn't a ton of saver first class availability. (Although there are plenty of saver business class options) Any chance saver first opens up over time? Or am I pretty much restricted to what I see on the United site now?

Also -- I've noticed that there are options to go transpacific and via Europe... do I have to pick one and go that way on both ends to avoid paying for a round-the-world award ticket?

Thanks!

I just booked a similar trip a week or two ago and couldn't get it to price out on the website. I needed to book the overseas portions and then add the stopover on the phone. They didn't charge me a fee and it was a quick and easy process. Just make sure you know exactly what flights you want and feed them to the agent.