seaweed20

Hi, Apologies if this is the incorrect forum. A newbie on FlyerTalk and this is my second post. It's amazing how great a community this is and how everyone is so helpful and forthcoming with information. As I get more acclimatized to FT, I wanted to throw a question to all you flying veterans and check if I am flying in the right direction with my use of miles or if I am short-selling myself.

My wife and kid are traveling to BOM for a month on vaca and I am getting two return tickets for them on UA using my miles (EWR-BOM-EWR) on the non-stop flights (UA48 & 49) for 120K each in BusinessFirst.

Having never done this before, is this is a good spend of miles? Or should I buy in economy and use miles to upgrade? Or is there a third alternative that I am missing?

Thanks

787fan

VERY good. EWR-DEL/BOM/TLV/HKG are notoriously hard to get saver J, so grab first, ask questions later

SFOPhD

+1

Madone59

120K Is a saver BF award, that is fine.

Many, my self included, prefer to use UA miles on non UA flights to enjoy higher quality airlines. But because you are sending someone else on a trip the most direct route seems best.

I have never flow the to BOM but from what I have read here in FT that is a packed route which can be hard to UG or get in BF so if you can get two saver awards take them.

seaweed20

Thank you!!

Just did. First time for my family on UA BusinessFirst and am sure they'll love it.

Guess it helps that they are flying mid-week both ways. I tried to look into the same option for me but I can only fly on a Friday/weekend both ways and nearly impossible to get.

ckidder331

agree a super good use of miles. It's a long trip (15 hours) so any Business Class seat will be a very good use of miles.

like it was said, taking another carrier with a better Int'l reputation might be preferred, since you have a non-stop confirmed, its totally worth it. and if they have not flown other airlines internationally, they will probably really like United Business First.

FromPVG

It is the same going to India. But if you go to North Asia, the 90K J redemption on US is a steal compared with 120K on UA.

seaweed20

Quick question for the veterans - when you say, "taking non UA flights/other international carriers", how are you checking for availability for the award seats on partner airlines?

I am currently simply using United's website to check availability or calling them. Is there another method to check award flights available on other *Alliance partners?

Thanks

Lurker1999

The ANA award search is a great free search engine. Here's more details on it:

http://thepointsguy.com/2011/06/how-...-availability/

If you're starting to hone in on one specific itinerary paying for a monthly Expertflyer subscription ($10/mo) is a good way to get alerts when a seat opens up.

luv2ctheworld

Having flown EWR-DEL (connecting from the West Coast) once a month for 4 months straight (in a mix of economy and BusinessFirst) I can say first hand the value of being in BF. It's probably one of the few routes where there is no question getting a BF seat at Saver level (120K Roundtrip) is a great deal.

The flight there can be anywhere from 13-14 hrs, and an hour or two more on the way back.

Sitting in economy (with the exception of exit row) is a very long, dreadful, slog for teens of hours (especially so in E-).

I'd also add that if you are using miles and considering other carriers (as others suggested), SQ is an option, as well as LH (though I don't know if you will be able to get the new lie-flat seats on your particular route). Perhaps ANA can be an option as well or Thai.

TommyC80

Good intuition newbie!! enjoy the flight

LifeInCMH

I think redemption of 120K miles for EWR-FRA-BOM on upgraded LH's 747's or 748's to DEL are even better. Gives you a chances to sample LH's superior product and perhaps stretch your legs with a brief stop at FRA. You can even sample decent food offerings at the FRA LH lounges. Stretch a bit to 140K redemption and you can fly first and avail the FCL/FCT at FRA or MUC!

Check actual availability on ANA (if you have an account) or AwardNexus.com as United.com tends to display ghost availability especially more than T-14 days.

AA_EXP09

You should have tried for LX/TK J

chinatraderjmr

While better airlines then UA for sure. Non stop is non stop & the value of that IMO is much more then the better meal or lounge you would get with these other airlines

erik123

and arrival/dept times are much better. The hard product is very good.