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-   -   United Reward Availability for other *A Programs (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-airlines-mileageplus/1504397-united-reward-availability-other-programs.html)

Oil-man Sep 19, 2013 6:26 am
United Reward Availability for other *A Programs
 
I am looking to fly east-west coast on United next summer using Lufthansa M&M miles.

There are blogs around discussing the use of Lufthansa miles in this regard, and they say if you can see a 'Saver' reward in the United booking engine, you can ring up Lufthansa and they will book those specific flights, as these 'Saver' flights are available for Lufthansa as a member of *A.

So, I searched United for flight from BOS-LAX on 12th August 2014, and there must be 6 or 7 different options pop up in first/economy class. Great I think, I've got a wide choice since I'm booking so early. Wrong!!

So I ring Lufthansa and all they can see is the one 6am flight connecting in Cleveland. They can't see the other 6 or so flights in that United says has 'Saver' availability, so I can't book them.

Am I doing something wrong? Is there a better website for me to see the United rewards availability open to other *A programs like Lufthansa M&M.

I'm confused :confused: and any help would be appreciated.

cheltzel Sep 19, 2013 7:32 am
Originally Posted by Oil-man (Post 21470033)
I am looking to fly east-west coast on United next summer using Lufthansa M&M miles.

There are blogs around discussing the use of Lufthansa miles in this regard, and they say if you can see a 'Saver' reward in the United booking engine, you can ring up Lufthansa and they will book those specific flights, as these 'Saver' flights are available for Lufthansa as a member of *A.

So, I searched United for flight from BOS-LAX on 12th August 2014, and there must be 6 or 7 different options pop up in first/economy class. Great I think, I've got a wide choice since I'm booking so early. Wrong!!

So I ring Lufthansa and all they can see is the one 6am flight connecting in Cleveland. They can't see the other 6 or so flights in that United says has 'Saver' availability, so I can't book them.

Am I doing something wrong? Is there a better website for me to see the United rewards availability open to other *A programs like Lufthansa M&M.

I'm confused :confused: and any help would be appreciated.
For *A award availability the best place is the ANA award search site. I use the KVSTool to do award searches which uses my ANA account and queries ANA for avaiability. Here is what I see for BOS-CLE-LAX on 14 Aug 2014.

[KVS Availability Tool 7.2.4/Diamond - Awards/StarAlliance/JP-ANA-SP1]
Code:
BOS  Boston Logan Intl MA US [KBOS]
CLE  Cleveland Hopkins Intl OH US [KCLE]
LAX  Los Angeles Intl CA US [KLAX]
THU  14 Aug 2014 | 1 Seat

Carrier    Flight  From  Depart    To    Arrive    A/C  St  Availability
---------  ------  ----  --------  ----  --------  ---  --  -------------
UA        5613    BOS  06:00    CLE  07:58    CR7  0  FS/  CS+  YS-
 -> UA    1542    CLE  08:55    LAX  10:49    738  0  FS/  CS+  YS-
UA        5275    BOS  09:45    CLE  11:43    ER4  0  FS/  CS/  YS-
 -> UA    1584    CLE  12:45    LAX  14:35    738  0  FS/  CS+  YS-
UA        5273    BOS  13:47    CLE  15:45    ER4  0  FS/  CS/  YS-
 -> UA    1659    CLE  18:00    LAX  19:55    738  0  FS/  CS-  YS-
So it appears that there is at least 1 business seat via CLE. I checked the 3 nonstop flights and there is nothing available on your travel date. You can connect via ORD in coach, but that is about it (no availability via EWR, IAD, or IAH).

noah Sep 19, 2013 7:56 am
One-way fares on United in August of next year are $169. That is a far better use of money than miles (if you are looking to go in Y).

wsflyer Sep 19, 2013 8:15 am
Originally Posted by Oil-man (Post 21470033)
There are blogs around discussing the use of Lufthansa miles in this regard, and they say if you can see a 'Saver' reward in the United booking engine, you can ring up Lufthansa and they will book those specific flights, as these 'Saver' flights are available for Lufthansa as a member of *A.
That's not necessarily correct, as you have discovered. Airlines often make more tickets available to their own frequent flyers than to other airlines. Probably shouldn't be this way for a true alliance, but it happens. The advice to use the ANA search engine is a good one.

cheltzel Sep 19, 2013 8:26 am
Originally Posted by noah (Post 21470400)
One-way fares on United in August of next year are $169. That is a far better use of money than miles (if you are looking to go in Y).
+1

I don't know how many miles LH requires for a one way coach award, but UA requires 12.5K for coach and 25K for business. Do you have to pay taxes and fuel surcharges on UA tickets?

I would get a cash ticket for well under $200 instead of redeeming miles.

SFO777 Sep 19, 2013 8:38 am
Don't worry about it until next July. UA will open up lots of award seats (especially F) for non-stops in the last month but especially at T-14.


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