chinatraderjmr

You'll have much better luck w LH in the summer & they will be flying the 747-8 to zindia as well as more destinations in the US. While LH biz class has never been as good as the rest, the NEW biz class in the 747-8 is fantastic & if you can book your trip on those flights, it's well worth it

mp2

Bump. Any recent successes or failures in being able to book award tickets on 9W using UA Mileageplus?

flykodo

Trying now to redeem on Jet Airways now. First the UA agent didn't think I could book using UA miles. Then after insisting I could, they transferred me to the UA Mileage Plus service center. He then also said I could not book the miles.

I insisted once again. He check with his supervisor and came back a few min later and said that I actually could book it. I have the reservation on hold, now I have to call back within 24 hours to ticket so they can check with Jet Airways.

chinatraderjmr

I've got Aton of 9W miles earned back when they operated the 3 class 77W between EWR-BOM. Figured they have so many partners & I was flying them so often it made sense to have my flights credited to their program & not UA. Well, I now have enough miles for 2 First class tkts on any carrier they partner with, to any where in the world. I might as well throw them in the garbage. Other then Jets own LHR flights I can't get avail on any partner listed (including UA). Since I have no reason or desire to fly between London & India, I guess I will end up getting a few hotel nights with them. WHAT A WASTE

mp2

Thanks for this. I'll keep it in mind the next time I book.

Flyinace2000

I called in this morning. The Agent knew exactly how to book the Jet Airways reward ticket. I was able to hold 2 seats in biz (LHR-BOM). I need to call back in 24 hours to confirm that Jet has accepted the transaction.

Process:
1. Call Reservations line
2. Give them your dates, preferred flight time, and class of service
3. Provide MP credentials
4. You will be given a confirmation number that will be un-ticketed.
5. Call back 24 hours later to confirm ticketing and pay whatever taxes are due

Flyinace2000

Update: Called back and they said it was denied cause they used the wrong booking class. She fixed it and said give it another 24 hours. Well at midnight the original confirmaiton expired.

So i called back, new guy was able to redo the reservation, but said the Jet issued an immediate NO. Offered to book me on LHR-FRA-IST-MUM in biz class for the same 50k. Not ideal, so i passed. Call back 10 minutes later to the MP Reservations desk to try again and got the same result.

Thinking i give it another try last this week, otherwise, will have to give up.

view-with-a-room

Yes "give up" is the better option at times!

rkabra101

I am new to the forum and first time poster. I also don't travel frequently but do travel to India from USA couple of times a year. EWR to Mumbai Business Class travel is like a dream come true and I am looking for a good strategy to consistently be in business class.

I earn lots of miles using Chase Club card for home and business use. Any time I search for flights, saver awards are not available except for flight departing in 24-hrs. I wonder what could be the reason except for UA trying to fill seats somehow but who would normally decide to travel 15hrs at last minute.

Following is what I am thinking and comments/ideas would be great:

1) Book a regular economy seat on miles and then wait for 24-hr window for saver and if available, call UA and try to change? Would they accommodate? Problem with this is if upgrade is not possible, I would have been far better off buying the tickets in $$ rather than miles (I will need to dish out 140K miles for a $1200 ticket).
2) Is it possible to book a ticket in certain class which is refundable (which one?) or min cancellation fee and then look for save in 24-hr window. If available, change to saver and cancel the paid ticket?

I also opened paid account at expertflyer.com but I am ways to go before learning how to use that properly to locate saver awards.

rk

rankourabu

1. There is no need to pay for EF - all awards are online at united.com, EF will not give you access to more awards.

2. Just book whataver business awards you can find with connections (via FRA, IST, CAI, ZRH etc) on NYC-BOM, and if it becomes available, call in to switch to the nonstop. Change fees will apply.

In theory, one can also book awards over the phone on Jet Airways, which would be very convenient in your situation.

UAPremExecflyer

Welcome to FT!
I wouldn't be counting on regular saver award travel on EWR-BOM route.
Lots of paid premium traffic, hence lack of said lack of award availability.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...dia-award.html
You may be better off trying to route to BOM via *A partners with a connection.

aacharya

India in saver is nowhere near 140k. Where did you calculate that..

WineCountryUA

RT "Regular"/Standard Award (since no Saver is available but hoped for in the last 24 hours) for NA-India is 2 x 70K, hence 140K as OP stated.

aacharya

Read OP again.

OP mentioned Business not being around until that timepoint, and then mentioned regular Saver. If he meant Standard, then the paragraphs are totally not contextual to one another.

OP - never book Standard if that's what your intent was.

WineCountryUA

it is clear that is OP's proposal. Only conclusion that fits the narrative.

The value of doing that is a different issue.