London to Athens with Star Alliance using United Miles
 

Beginning to plan out a trip from NYC to Greek Islands for July 2015 for two people using United Round Trip Economy Saver Award. As part of the trip, I was hoping to have a 2-3 day stopover in London on the way (although I am open to having a stopover in another city if London does not seem to work). However, when searching flights on united's website, no direct flights from London to Athens show up.

Is this correct? Searching on Google flights, it looks like Aegean does fly direct from LHR to ATH and Aegean is a part of Star Alliance. Does United searches not include Aegean?

Aegean definitely offers LHR-ATH service and is part of the Star Alliance. This does show up on the United site if you search LHR-ATH for dates that are less than 330 days out.

I've booked this a few times -- you are too far out. But before you use miles, check the United and Aegean websites for fares. The taxes and fees are so high on this route, that you sometimes pay almost the same on an award than you do with a purchase.....

Yea, 1k-all-the-way is right, I was looking too far out for any of the routes to come up. Thanks for the reply, I knew the route existed so I figured I was doing something wrong (which I was).

Appreciate the info, I guess this means that although I COULD still try and book the stopover in London, it would be a lot more practical both from a monetary and ease-of-booking perspective to pick another European City for a stopover.

What about Istanbul? TK flies JFK-IST-ATH. And TK awards are usually plentiful, if you know where to look.

I hadn't really considered Istanbul to be honest, but I will definitely keep it in mind.

My fiancée specifically mentioned wanting to go to London, and I myself have never been, so that is why it's my first choice.

If I do decide to try and book the trip with the stopover in London, should I just to book the award tickets around 330 days out when most awards are announced and just book a indirect flight from London to Athens from another airline, and then when Aegean awards come out further down the road pay the fee to change my award itinerary and book a direct with Aegean? In other words, do economy saver awards typically run out where I should book major flights ASAP, or do they remain available for some time and I will have options if I book 6 months out from the trip?

If you are booking a round-trip award from NYC-ATH you are entitled to a free stopover in Europe. In this case, it makes sense to fly LHR-ATH on award miles since it will not cost you any extra miles. You will have to pay taxes, however, and LHR's taxes are incredibly steep. Keep in mind you need to pay taxes regardless of if the ticket is paid for with cash or miles. Also, keep in mind that Aegean flies to the islands, so unless you want to stay in Athens you can use miles to get all the way to the islands.

As for award seats opening up 330 days before the flight, that is somewhat of a myth. It helps to look for award space as far out as possible, but airlines don't simply open up award seats at that magic 330 mark. If an airline thinks it can sell the seat (and historical data helps them with this decision), they will not make any free seats available, even 330 days out. Europe in the summertime, especially London, is a very popular destination and award seats will be tight. Keep your eye on it starting at "T - 330" but don't get discouraged if you don't see seats right away. That doesn't mean they will not appear later. Award seat inventory is dynamic and comes and goes as bookings ebb and flow.

Lastly, if you do find NYC-LHR // ATH-NYC, I would book it. You can fill in the LHR-ATH later through paying a change fee or simply booking a paid ticket.

A sample award booking for the OP's desired plans shows under $200 total in taxes and fees per ticket in Y...that varies slightly depending on the exact routing but it's still way less than a cash ticket from NYC to Greece with a London stopover.

ETA: Re-reading, you may have just been referring to LHR-ATH only as a standalone... OP's post title mentions LHR-ATH but then it seems like he's actually looking at the whole trip with UA miles with a LHR stopover as part of the award booking, I think.

You're right, though, a separately booked LHR-ATH by itself is likely going to be almost as much as a paid ticket.

not trying to hijack the thread, but do we have an award booking thread? seem to be a lot of tips/hints not illustrated by united for booking an award travel on a partner :)

See "Award Tickets" section of wiki index of threads in http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ster-wiki.html for multiple threads discussing various aspects of award ticket booking.

thanks
I am blind I apologize :)

Yea my title was misleading, I am focused on the EWR-LHR part of the trip because I figured it would be the most difficult, but I am planning on it being a part of a larger Roundtrip UA award.

I didn't think of this! Good idea

Yep, I figured summer flights to Europe would be tough, so thats why I am really trying to plan it out early to have as good a shot as possible of finding two award seats on a flight. I will definitely book the major transatlantic flights when they become available and deal with the fees to add flights as Aegean awards are released. Thanks for the good advice!

Building on this...any idea when award space opens up for ATH-JMK/JTR/HER? Hoping to minimize ferry time.