Jan 11, 2015, 1:33 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Previous thread - How to book LH F awards? when available? issues? {Archive}
============= copied from bumfluff's guide on LH award F =========================
For the past 3 years I have been flying to Asia, twice a year, for medical relief work. During that time I’ve booked a lot of LH F awards using my UA miles. This guide actually started as a how-to for my colleagues and I figured I could help some FT’ers along the way. DISCLAIMER: This info is solely based on my personal experience and in no way meant to be definitive. There are so many other great resources that I used along the way (links below), but in the end this how I got it to work for me. Hope it helps!
-Know the timings. It is widely understood that LH releases F awards to UA at around 15.00pst within14 days of departure. I myself have only ever found bookable awards within T-10 days. Starting in 2008?, reduced to 7 days and at times 2-3 days
-Know inventory status. This is key. As long as there are available F seats there’s a chance they’ll open up for UA MP redemption. Use EF, kayak, or the LH site to determine how many actual seats are available in the F cabin. Use this info when you’re more than T-14 days to determine what is likely to open up for awards redemption. If a flight is showing F8 or F7 you are almost guaranteed that one seat will open up at some point (T-14 through T-0). From my experience, if a flight shows F7-F4 it will open up around T-7 days, anything less than F4 will open up between T-3 to T-0. If you’re looking to book 2 seats look for at least F6.
-Know the routes. Most people reading this post will be interested in ex-USA new LH F awards to Europe. Use the LH NEW PRODUCT TOOL to determine if the route you want has the new F product. At the time of posting (10/2013) the new LH F product is flying out of IAD, ORD, EWR, SFO, LAX, JFK, IAH, MIA to FRA and SFO, BOS, ORD, LAX, YUL, JFK, EWR, and CLT to MUC. International new F product can be found on FRA to DXB, DEL, NRT, HKG, KUL, BKK, SIN, PVG, PEK and select ex-MUC routes. Find other direct LH routes using the LH ROUTE MAP or Flight Mapper
-Some routes are more likely to open up than others. Here’s the bad news, in my opinion, finding a LH F award seat out of LAX, SFO, or MIA is almost impossible. JFK, ORD, EWR, IAD and (surprisingly) IAH are a little easier. And, if you just want to fly the new LH F product keep an eye on CLT-MUC, in my experience this routing is usually wide open. Generally speaking, F awards into MUC are a little easier to come by. Check out the links below to get more info on which routes out of the US have the best availability. As for international routings, I’ve found FRA-DEL, DXB and NRT to be pretty consistent. I have also had success booking FRA-SIN, BKK/KUL.
-Use the ANA tool less. Im going to get a lot of flak over this one, and the truth is the ANA site is still the MOST accurate solution to determine if there is a bookable LH F award. However, in my experience there is a ton of value in keeping an eye on the UA site, specifically I have found that the UA site is really good at predicting upcoming bookable LH F awards. In most cases, phantom segments eventually become bookable. Assuming you have checked the inventory and its greater than F4, it should become bookable (over the phone) within a couple days of showing up on the UA site as phantom. And that same award will not show up on the ANA site right away.
-Book over the phone. A common question is: “Should I try and book this online or over the phone?” The answer is: it depends, but probably over the phone. If you are only looking to score one segment (ie your entire itin is JKF-FRA) you could definitely book it online, and if it’s a phantom award (which it probably will be) the transaction will not go through but you will be waitlisted and be first in line when it does become bookable. If you have a ticketed itin and want to change to include a LH F segment, this is best done over the phone when it becomes bookable. If you try and make the change online (and it’s a phantom award) you will lose whatever segment you had and run the risk of the award never becoming bookable. Others have booked the phantom award as a separate itin online, which turns into a waitlist, and then if it does become bookable the strategy is to cancel the waitlisted segment and hope that it is quickly put back into active inventory to merge it with your original routing.
-Phantom awards open at 21.10pst. So this is going to be the most hit or miss piece of advice. While I have found it true that ANA will show LH F awards around 15.00pst, it is also my experience that the same award will be bookable over the phone with UA the night before between 21.00pst and 21.30pst. This is more of a recent revelation for me, but for the past year I have been calling UA to check the status of phantom awards on the UA site and have consistently been able to book phantom awards between that time frame. Even more recently, I was looking to switch my LH F FRA-DXB itin with a FRA-KUL routing, which was showing F available on the UA site but turned out to be phantom. I called back at 21.10pst and initially the agent told me there was no availability, she quickly followed up with “Wait a minute, my system is refreshing. Can I put you on hold.”…brief hold… “Yes, we have a first class seat available.” She went on to confirm that their system consistently reboots sometime after 2100pst. Again, this is totally anecdotal so take it with a grain of salt. But it has been working for me recently.
-Be 1k (or at least PP). Easier said than done, I know. But, not dealing with change/cancellation fees makes the whole thing way more straightforward.
-Be flexible. Anytime I was able to give myself a 1-week departure window I was always able to find at least one LH F segment, and many times I found a second connecting segment.
I hope this helps. See you at the FCT!
PM&M-LH F Toolkit
PM&M-How to Time LH F Awards
MMS-Award Availability on LH
FT-F Award Seats
FT-Anyone Booked LH F Awards Recently?
------------------------------------------------------------
2014 Update
So the 2014 United deval has come and gone and I’ve flown on 5 LH F legs this year (2 were pre-deval 60K bookings), so what’s changed?
Well, luckily, im not sure much if anything has changed. Yes, that F seat is going to cost you 120K o/w now. But outside spending more miles most of my booking strategy has stayed the same in 2014.
For all the talk in 2013 from LH, it really hasn’t gotten any “harder” to grab these seats as a UA MP customer. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a serious mission to undertake…patiently checking .bomb, ANA, EF and calling UA endlessly. And the value of that time invested has dropped significantly along with the deval.
Obviously the USA LH F “hotspots” have changed, (as of this Nov. 2014 update) YYZ and BOS are pretty wide open. But I’ve had luck this year with DEN, ORD, YVR, IAH, NYC, SEA and IAD (ICN and NRT internationally). In my opinion, it’s (still) nigh impossible to find LAX, MIA, and SFO (although there were reports of at least one SFO F seat showing on ANA earlier this fall).
As far timing goes, I have found a much smaller window of time that these seats are up for grabs. From my personal experience this year, it appears that much less is released T-2 through T-12. I have made most of my F bookings this year either right at the T-14 mark or within a couple days (sometime hours) of departing. But again this is purely anecdotal.
For what it’s worth I think that .bomb has gotten better at controlling phantom availability, but the issue definitely still exists…always check ANA.
Since starting this thread I’ve gotten a lot of PM’s, most want to know how EXACTLY I get these seats. There’s no secret or hidden trick, use the resources in this thread and I think the most important thing is to be flexible. I’m lucky that I usually have at least a week to play with, give yourself two and I’m positive you’ll find SOMETHING.
And if you just want to fly in a cool A380 F UA MP offers some great options with OZ and TG. But for ex-USA to EU, there really is only one choice, and it’s still possible, although it’ll cost you a little (a lot) bit more.
============= copied from bumfluff's guide on LH award F =========================
For the past 3 years I have been flying to Asia, twice a year, for medical relief work. During that time I’ve booked a lot of LH F awards using my UA miles. This guide actually started as a how-to for my colleagues and I figured I could help some FT’ers along the way. DISCLAIMER: This info is solely based on my personal experience and in no way meant to be definitive. There are so many other great resources that I used along the way (links below), but in the end this how I got it to work for me. Hope it helps!
-Know the timings. It is widely understood that LH releases F awards to UA at around 15.00pst within
-Know inventory status. This is key. As long as there are available F seats there’s a chance they’ll open up for UA MP redemption. Use EF, kayak, or the LH site to determine how many actual seats are available in the F cabin. Use this info when you’re more than T-14 days to determine what is likely to open up for awards redemption. If a flight is showing F8 or F7 you are almost guaranteed that one seat will open up at some point (T-14 through T-0). From my experience, if a flight shows F7-F4 it will open up around T-7 days, anything less than F4 will open up between T-3 to T-0. If you’re looking to book 2 seats look for at least F6.
-Know the routes. Most people reading this post will be interested in ex-USA new LH F awards to Europe. Use the LH NEW PRODUCT TOOL to determine if the route you want has the new F product. At the time of posting (10/2013) the new LH F product is flying out of IAD, ORD, EWR, SFO, LAX, JFK, IAH, MIA to FRA and SFO, BOS, ORD, LAX, YUL, JFK, EWR, and CLT to MUC. International new F product can be found on FRA to DXB, DEL, NRT, HKG, KUL, BKK, SIN, PVG, PEK and select ex-MUC routes. Find other direct LH routes using the LH ROUTE MAP or Flight Mapper
-Some routes are more likely to open up than others. Here’s the bad news, in my opinion, finding a LH F award seat out of LAX, SFO, or MIA is almost impossible. JFK, ORD, EWR, IAD and (surprisingly) IAH are a little easier. And, if you just want to fly the new LH F product keep an eye on CLT-MUC, in my experience this routing is usually wide open. Generally speaking, F awards into MUC are a little easier to come by. Check out the links below to get more info on which routes out of the US have the best availability. As for international routings, I’ve found FRA-DEL, DXB and NRT to be pretty consistent. I have also had success booking FRA-SIN, BKK/KUL.
-Use the ANA tool less. Im going to get a lot of flak over this one, and the truth is the ANA site is still the MOST accurate solution to determine if there is a bookable LH F award. However, in my experience there is a ton of value in keeping an eye on the UA site, specifically I have found that the UA site is really good at predicting upcoming bookable LH F awards. In most cases, phantom segments eventually become bookable. Assuming you have checked the inventory and its greater than F4, it should become bookable (over the phone) within a couple days of showing up on the UA site as phantom. And that same award will not show up on the ANA site right away.
-Book over the phone. A common question is: “Should I try and book this online or over the phone?” The answer is: it depends, but probably over the phone. If you are only looking to score one segment (ie your entire itin is JKF-FRA) you could definitely book it online, and if it’s a phantom award (which it probably will be) the transaction will not go through but you will be waitlisted and be first in line when it does become bookable. If you have a ticketed itin and want to change to include a LH F segment, this is best done over the phone when it becomes bookable. If you try and make the change online (and it’s a phantom award) you will lose whatever segment you had and run the risk of the award never becoming bookable. Others have booked the phantom award as a separate itin online, which turns into a waitlist, and then if it does become bookable the strategy is to cancel the waitlisted segment and hope that it is quickly put back into active inventory to merge it with your original routing.
-Phantom awards open at 21.10pst. So this is going to be the most hit or miss piece of advice. While I have found it true that ANA will show LH F awards around 15.00pst, it is also my experience that the same award will be bookable over the phone with UA the night before between 21.00pst and 21.30pst. This is more of a recent revelation for me, but for the past year I have been calling UA to check the status of phantom awards on the UA site and have consistently been able to book phantom awards between that time frame. Even more recently, I was looking to switch my LH F FRA-DXB itin with a FRA-KUL routing, which was showing F available on the UA site but turned out to be phantom. I called back at 21.10pst and initially the agent told me there was no availability, she quickly followed up with “Wait a minute, my system is refreshing. Can I put you on hold.”…brief hold… “Yes, we have a first class seat available.” She went on to confirm that their system consistently reboots sometime after 2100pst. Again, this is totally anecdotal so take it with a grain of salt. But it has been working for me recently.
-Be 1k (or at least PP). Easier said than done, I know. But, not dealing with change/cancellation fees makes the whole thing way more straightforward.
-Be flexible. Anytime I was able to give myself a 1-week departure window I was always able to find at least one LH F segment, and many times I found a second connecting segment.
I hope this helps. See you at the FCT!
PM&M-LH F Toolkit
PM&M-How to Time LH F Awards
MMS-Award Availability on LH
FT-F Award Seats
FT-Anyone Booked LH F Awards Recently?
------------------------------------------------------------
2014 Update
So the 2014 United deval has come and gone and I’ve flown on 5 LH F legs this year (2 were pre-deval 60K bookings), so what’s changed?
Well, luckily, im not sure much if anything has changed. Yes, that F seat is going to cost you 120K o/w now. But outside spending more miles most of my booking strategy has stayed the same in 2014.
For all the talk in 2013 from LH, it really hasn’t gotten any “harder” to grab these seats as a UA MP customer. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a serious mission to undertake…patiently checking .bomb, ANA, EF and calling UA endlessly. And the value of that time invested has dropped significantly along with the deval.
Obviously the USA LH F “hotspots” have changed, (as of this Nov. 2014 update) YYZ and BOS are pretty wide open. But I’ve had luck this year with DEN, ORD, YVR, IAH, NYC, SEA and IAD (ICN and NRT internationally). In my opinion, it’s (still) nigh impossible to find LAX, MIA, and SFO (although there were reports of at least one SFO F seat showing on ANA earlier this fall).
As far timing goes, I have found a much smaller window of time that these seats are up for grabs. From my personal experience this year, it appears that much less is released T-2 through T-12. I have made most of my F bookings this year either right at the T-14 mark or within a couple days (sometime hours) of departing. But again this is purely anecdotal.
For what it’s worth I think that .bomb has gotten better at controlling phantom availability, but the issue definitely still exists…always check ANA.
Since starting this thread I’ve gotten a lot of PM’s, most want to know how EXACTLY I get these seats. There’s no secret or hidden trick, use the resources in this thread and I think the most important thing is to be flexible. I’m lucky that I usually have at least a week to play with, give yourself two and I’m positive you’ll find SOMETHING.
And if you just want to fly in a cool A380 F UA MP offers some great options with OZ and TG. But for ex-USA to EU, there really is only one choice, and it’s still possible, although it’ll cost you a little (a lot) bit more.
How to book LH F awards? when available? issues?
Dec 17, 2023, 5:07 pm
#166
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,090
Lately for me the transfer time from my Chase UR - UA MP has been +- 48 hours of clock. Thought was I'd hate to miss 2 award seats if they became available and would want to be able to jump on them as I saw them.
Somewhat related...there's no increased availability of LH F awards to elites...right? My wife (UA Gold) has 60K UA MP at the moment. Those points are going to sit there for a while. I could liquidate less Chase points if I could book one LH F ticket in her account and one in my (UA 1K) account. I suspect LH F award availability is equally available to all. That true?
Somewhat related...there's no increased availability of LH F awards to elites...right? My wife (UA Gold) has 60K UA MP at the moment. Those points are going to sit there for a while. I could liquidate less Chase points if I could book one LH F ticket in her account and one in my (UA 1K) account. I suspect LH F award availability is equally available to all. That true?
LH F used to be pretty available through 2023 - currently a seems a bit more restrictive. I have an F8A8 that is not showing any 'O' right now.
Dec 18, 2023, 2:45 pm
#167
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 485
I am a lot less familiar with non UA metal/non UA ops.
F8A8. 8 first class available...and 8 discounted premium economy revenue seats...did I get that right?
So I guess my game plan is to which available inventory when I log in to my Miles and Smiles account. Right now, when I navigate to a the first class revenue book page it stills says "6 available seats."
If that remains true I'll speculatively transfer over the Chase points...and be ready to pull the trigger I guess.
One further question. Since we'll be originating in LHR. It is worth trying to book same PNR through UA award LH LHR FRA ORD...or should grab the award F FRA ORD when I see it and then separately book cheap revenue Y LHR FRA earlier that day.
I am not sure of the prevalence of IROPS on LH between LHR FRA but it seems that there is a ton of scheduled flights so I should be covered (I would think).
Thoughts?
I appreciate the insight. Thanks!
Dec 18, 2023, 2:55 pm
#168
Join Date: Oct 2021
Location: MUC/PAR/MIA
Programs: LH SEN; DL PM; Hertz PC; Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 197
That is risky business—there is never a guarantee that LH will actually release award seats.
Dec 19, 2023, 1:11 am
#169
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Berlin
Programs: BA Gold; Accor Plat; IHG Diamond-Amb; Meliá & HH & Marriott Gold
Posts: 5,450
If that remains true I'll speculatively transfer over the Chase points...
It is worth trying to book same PNR through UA award LH LHR FRA ORD...or should grab the award F FRA ORD when I see it and then separately book cheap revenue Y LHR FRA earlier that day.
I am not sure of the prevalence of IROPS on LH between LHR FRA but it seems that there is a ton of scheduled flights so I should be covered (I would think).
I am not sure of the prevalence of IROPS on LH between LHR FRA but it seems that there is a ton of scheduled flights so I should be covered (I would think).
Your profile doesn't show any UA status. If you or your travel companion has elite status, you'll have a better chance of getting on the next flight if yours is cancelled. But if getting back to ORD on 4 January is crucial, I wouldn't risk separate tickets. Some flights will be full and just one cancellation could use up all the seats available that day.
If it were me I'd research award availability for LH flights from LHR to FRA to see which available flight(s) would work with the FRA-ORD flight I'm hoping for. There may well be none, in which case I'd stick with the direct LHR-ORD booking.
Dec 19, 2023, 8:01 am
#170
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 5,469
On the other hand, buying LHR-FRA on a separate ticket will save the OP a fair amount of the UK's hefty APD for long-haul flights, which they'd be on the hook for if they booked LHR-FRA-ORD in one itinerary. Not advocating for one or the other, just stating facts that may influence their decision.
Dec 24, 2023, 3:00 pm
#171
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 485
Thank you, all. All of you are (as usual) incredibly helpful. Sorry for my late reply, getting caught up after wild week at work.
I am UA 1K, wife UA Gold. But your point about same PNR is well taken. Our plans have changed a bit in that we now do need to travel on Jan 04, but can go back to any UA hub (not just ORD). That said, near as I can tell on main Lufthansa booking page, available F inventory for ex FRA to UA hub other than ORD is low at this time.
Regarding my opportunity cost for speculatively transferring +- 200K Chase points to UA should F6A6 hold 5 days out. The only other big trip I have on the horizon is interest in going to Japan. Have 500K Amex MR lined up for that. If I can't do ANA NH/SQ F/J for that, would happily do UA J. My thought process is/was 500K MR should be enough for two r/t to ex USA TYO, and if my fall back is UA J, then those Chase points are already in UA. Does that seem reasonable to you guys or am I missing something big?
Sort of -- see pdeut's answer. But remember the flight you're interested in is only showing F6A6. (The previous day is F4A4 and the following days are F2A2, F4A4 and F1A0.)
Only do that if you're happy to have UA miles rather than Chase UR points if this doesn't work out. You could get lucky, but given your limited flexibility (it sounds as though you're only able to travel on 4 January) I wouldn't bet on it.
It's too far out to make realistic predictions about the weather, but at this time of year snow and ice at LHR and/or FRA are not unlikely. Staff shortages and sickness also continue to cause quite a few flight cancellations within Europe, often at short notice.
Your profile doesn't show any UA status. If you or your travel companion has elite status, you'll have a better chance of getting on the next flight if yours is cancelled. But if getting back to ORD on 4 January is crucial, I wouldn't risk separate tickets. Some flights will be full and just one cancellation could use up all the seats available that day.
If it were me I'd research award availability for LH flights from LHR to FRA to see which available flight(s) would work with the FRA-ORD flight I'm hoping for. There may well be none, in which case I'd stick with the direct LHR-ORD booking.
Only do that if you're happy to have UA miles rather than Chase UR points if this doesn't work out. You could get lucky, but given your limited flexibility (it sounds as though you're only able to travel on 4 January) I wouldn't bet on it.
It's too far out to make realistic predictions about the weather, but at this time of year snow and ice at LHR and/or FRA are not unlikely. Staff shortages and sickness also continue to cause quite a few flight cancellations within Europe, often at short notice.
Your profile doesn't show any UA status. If you or your travel companion has elite status, you'll have a better chance of getting on the next flight if yours is cancelled. But if getting back to ORD on 4 January is crucial, I wouldn't risk separate tickets. Some flights will be full and just one cancellation could use up all the seats available that day.
If it were me I'd research award availability for LH flights from LHR to FRA to see which available flight(s) would work with the FRA-ORD flight I'm hoping for. There may well be none, in which case I'd stick with the direct LHR-ORD booking.
Regarding my opportunity cost for speculatively transferring +- 200K Chase points to UA should F6A6 hold 5 days out. The only other big trip I have on the horizon is interest in going to Japan. Have 500K Amex MR lined up for that. If I can't do ANA NH/SQ F/J for that, would happily do UA J. My thought process is/was 500K MR should be enough for two r/t to ex USA TYO, and if my fall back is UA J, then those Chase points are already in UA. Does that seem reasonable to you guys or am I missing something big?
Dec 24, 2023, 3:02 pm
#172
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 485
On the other hand, buying LHR-FRA on a separate ticket will save the OP a fair amount of the UK's hefty APD for long-haul flights, which they'd be on the hook for if they booked LHR-FRA-ORD in one itinerary. Not advocating for one or the other, just stating facts that may influence their decision.
Dec 24, 2023, 7:47 pm
#173
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 119
In my experience, Chase UR always, always post immediately, so I don't think there's any reason to transfer them speculatively. If you see LH F available, it takes around 90 seconds to do the entire thing, from Chase login to MP miles showing up in your account.
What I would do now, if you have multiple Chase cards, is transfer all the the UR to the card that you want to use for the transfer. Saves a few extra steps, and you can transfer back if you ever want to.
What I would do now, if you have multiple Chase cards, is transfer all the the UR to the card that you want to use for the transfer. Saves a few extra steps, and you can transfer back if you ever want to.
Dec 25, 2023, 2:47 am
#174
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 5,469
I was talking about the taxes on an award ticket, to be clear. The mileage amount required for LHR-FRA-ORD in F should be the same as that for FRA-ORD in F. The taxes will be different, however. If you book LHR-FRA-ORD as one itinerary/ticket, you will be liable for the UK's hefty air passenger duty (APD), which is levied on all tickets originating in the UK and varies depending on whether you're flying long or short haul. If you book FRA-ORD alone and then a separate revenue/award ticket for LHR-FRA, you'd still be liable for APD, but at the substantially lower amount for short haul itineraries.
Dec 25, 2023, 12:01 pm
#175
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 485
In my experience, Chase UR always, always post immediately, so I don't think there's any reason to transfer them speculatively. If you see LH F available, it takes around 90 seconds to do the entire thing, from Chase login to MP miles showing up in your account.
What I would do now, if you have multiple Chase cards, is transfer all the the UR to the card that you want to use for the transfer. Saves a few extra steps, and you can transfer back if you ever want to.
What I would do now, if you have multiple Chase cards, is transfer all the the UR to the card that you want to use for the transfer. Saves a few extra steps, and you can transfer back if you ever want to.
EDIT -- 2 hours ago I transferred 1,000 Chase points to my UA MP account. Still not there. On the transfer portal it says "most transfers will be completed the next business day, but could take up to 7 business days." 🤷♂️
I also just trialed 1,000 point transfer to Aeroplan and not instant, either 😞
Is booking award through Aeroplan as seamless/straight forward as booking through UA?
I was talking about the taxes on an award ticket, to be clear. The mileage amount required for LHR-FRA-ORD in F should be the same as that for FRA-ORD in F. The taxes will be different, however. If you book LHR-FRA-ORD as one itinerary/ticket, you will be liable for the UK's hefty air passenger duty (APD), which is levied on all tickets originating in the UK and varies depending on whether you're flying long or short haul. If you book FRA-ORD alone and then a separate revenue/award ticket for LHR-FRA, you'd still be liable for APD, but at the substantially lower amount for short haul itineraries.
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Dec 26, 2023 at 11:33 am Reason: merging consecutive posts by same member
Dec 25, 2023, 4:34 pm
#176
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 485
Have a new thought on how to avoid speculative transfer of Chase points.
Have a separate trip booked on UA in April ORD AMS JN for +- 220,000 UA points. I have 50,000 UA now and it seems FRA ORD is consistently 121,000 per person. So, I only need +- 200,000 UA for this.
5 or so days out from my targeted LH F flight. If there is still F6, I would check the price of my same flight for ORD AMS. If similar/same, I would cancel my ORD AMS PNR, get the auto refund of my ORD AMS, use those points to book the LH F, then fare lock the same ORD AMS, then transfer whatever I need from Chase to rebook the ORD AMS at that current price.
This convoluted process would enable me to spend minimal cash (just the cost of farelock) to reallocate points I already have in UA and thus save me from any "speculative" transfer of Chase points. Risk would be the price in points of my targeted ORD AMS flight would sky rocket during this 5 minute period of rebooking. Doesn't seem too likely to me, but this flight is not mission critical and can adjust dates if needed.
I also have my currently booked UA ON LHR ORD (the segment that I would like to replace with said 747 LH F) that will net me 100,000 UA points. This I would cancel immediately after booking the theoretical LHR FRA ORD.
What am I missing with this idea? Is this stupid?
Have a separate trip booked on UA in April ORD AMS JN for +- 220,000 UA points. I have 50,000 UA now and it seems FRA ORD is consistently 121,000 per person. So, I only need +- 200,000 UA for this.
5 or so days out from my targeted LH F flight. If there is still F6, I would check the price of my same flight for ORD AMS. If similar/same, I would cancel my ORD AMS PNR, get the auto refund of my ORD AMS, use those points to book the LH F, then fare lock the same ORD AMS, then transfer whatever I need from Chase to rebook the ORD AMS at that current price.
This convoluted process would enable me to spend minimal cash (just the cost of farelock) to reallocate points I already have in UA and thus save me from any "speculative" transfer of Chase points. Risk would be the price in points of my targeted ORD AMS flight would sky rocket during this 5 minute period of rebooking. Doesn't seem too likely to me, but this flight is not mission critical and can adjust dates if needed.
I also have my currently booked UA ON LHR ORD (the segment that I would like to replace with said 747 LH F) that will net me 100,000 UA points. This I would cancel immediately after booking the theoretical LHR FRA ORD.
What am I missing with this idea? Is this stupid?
Dec 25, 2023, 10:40 pm
#177
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 5,469
5 or so days out from my targeted LH F flight. If there is still F6, I would check the price of my same flight for ORD AMS. If similar/same, I would cancel my ORD AMS PNR, get the auto refund of my ORD AMS, use those points to book the LH F, then fare lock the same ORD AMS, then transfer whatever I need from Chase to rebook the ORD AMS at that current price.
Dec 26, 2023, 4:56 am
#178
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 485
You don't need to do this at 5 or so days out. I'd just wait until/if the LH F award becomes available to trigger this action, as miles from canceled awards are redeposited and available for reuse instantly. So if you see the LH F award available, 1) cancel your ORD-AMS award, 2) book the LH F award, and 3) fare lock ORD-AMS.
Jan 1, 2024, 2:45 pm
#179
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 485
Hi Guys,
I am T-72 from my desired flight. Still 4 open F seats per LH revenue booking page.
Other than constantly checking LH page for seat availability and then jumping over to UA to look for corresponding award availability...is there any other strategy or thing I should be doing to be on top of this?
Am also using Seat.Aero....but it appears they have some lag in their postings.
The same flight I want but 1 day sooner has 3 F open and I see it as an award booking on UA now so 🤷♂️ 🤞
Thanks all for the help!
I am T-72 from my desired flight. Still 4 open F seats per LH revenue booking page.
Other than constantly checking LH page for seat availability and then jumping over to UA to look for corresponding award availability...is there any other strategy or thing I should be doing to be on top of this?
Am also using Seat.Aero....but it appears they have some lag in their postings.
The same flight I want but 1 day sooner has 3 F open and I see it as an award booking on UA now so 🤷♂️ 🤞
Thanks all for the help!
Jan 1, 2024, 3:46 pm
#180
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: IAH
Programs: Former UA1K transitioning to WFBF mentality
Posts: 779
Hi Guys,
I am T-72 from my desired flight. Still 4 open F seats per LH revenue booking page.
Other than constantly checking LH page for seat availability and then jumping over to UA to look for corresponding award availability...is there any other strategy or thing I should be doing to be on top of this?
Am also using Seat.Aero....but it appears they have some lag in their postings.
The same flight I want but 1 day sooner has 3 F open and I see it as an award booking on UA now so 🤷♂️ 🤞
Thanks all for the help!
I am T-72 from my desired flight. Still 4 open F seats per LH revenue booking page.
Other than constantly checking LH page for seat availability and then jumping over to UA to look for corresponding award availability...is there any other strategy or thing I should be doing to be on top of this?
Am also using Seat.Aero....but it appears they have some lag in their postings.
The same flight I want but 1 day sooner has 3 F open and I see it as an award booking on UA now so 🤷♂️ 🤞
Thanks all for the help!