MBS MillionMiler

It's up dramatically today--it was $1850 O/W yesterday from ICN-SFO-ORD-MBS as a part of an other-direction MBS-ORD-PVG 'roundtrip'. Was $3000 all-in for the P fare yesterday--but today it's over $5000. I have a Farelock on an all-Shanghai itinerary at $2800--which is a GREAT deal, so locked it in, but didn't want to do anything on ICN unless I knew it was the last 747. Now, I'm afraid, it might be too late--but I'll continue to watch it. (But even my exact same MBS-ORD-PVG-ORD-MBS flights are now showing nearly $5K themselves--I think I just found an anomaly on Monday when I put in the Farelock)--all other nearby airports were over $4K and still are, including ORD.

But if what EWR764 says it true, I surely won't sweat it. If it was indeed THE last flight, it would have been different--international or not. Would have been cool to fly a plane, ending the fleet service of it and 'watching' it get ferried to VCV for a long park or disassembly.

The 747, like many of us, has always been my 'jam'. I'm sure I've logged more miles on them in my 40 years and 1.8mm than any other aircraft...Like many here, I too am going to be so sad to see them go. That stoopid 772, even with a possible Polaris config later this century still won't hold a candle to the Queen.

dmurphynj

Would be great to see a domestic tour of the 'ol girl. As an EWR captive domestic road warrior, I've never gotten on a United 744. Only 747 experience I've had was an LH 748 to FRA last year. That was fantastic, but I'd like a hop on the venerable 744 before she becomes a FedEx queen. (That sure sounds better to me than her becoming razor blades!)

PenaltyBox

Does United plan on keeping a dedicated plane(s) for charters...either a 772 or a 744 that can be kept operational?

If they plan on using a 10-across 772 for sports charters or even military charters, they're going to have a lot of unhappy customers...IMO.

eng3

I was planning to goto Europe sometime this summer. I was willing to fly all the way to SFO to fly the 747 one last time. EWR-SFO-FRA,LHR-SFO-EWR or reverse. I found a few flights with R availability. Direct flights are about $1500. Going through SFO, gave me over $5000!! forcing an intl Y ticket on me. I tried doing EWR-FRA,LHR-EWR but it would not give me an option going through SFO so I had to put in the SFO stop manually. It even wanted 4 GPU's though I'm pretty sure I could just call in.
I could book separate PNR's but that's a hassle.

greg99

Did EWR-SFO-FRA, etc. actually price out and ticket when you inserted the SFO routing yourself?

The distance for that routing (8,251 miles) is *way* over the Maximum Permitted Mileage for a trip between EWR and FRA (4,612 miles), so it's not surprising that it's forcing it to price separately EWR-SFO/SFO-FRA/FRA-SFO/SFO-EWR.

If you have access to ExpertFlyer, you can look up the Maximum Permitted Mileage under "Travel Information."

Greg

Dublin_rfk

I'm still seeing late Oct (19-20-21-22) SFO/NRT and till the end of the month SFO/ICN.
I'm taking a chance that my schedule doesn't change and purchased in 'P' (PHL/SFO/NRT) to catch the 'Queen' one more time.

eng3

AH, I wasn't aware of Maximum Permitted Mileage. That explains why it did not give me the option. When I inserted SFO myself, it did give me a price. There goes my last chance to fly the Queen again. Short of booking two separate PNRs.

greg99

Depending upon the fare, the MPM may not even matter. Often, the fare rules may specify exactly what routing(s) are permitted, but they're always less than the MPM.

I have no affiliation at all with ExpertFlyer, except as a customer, but if you're ever trying to game routings, it's worth the $10/month, IME.

Greg

Kacee

I wonder if the reported delays with Zodiac for the 77W seats may impact the planned retirement dates for the 744?

eng3

I had a subscription with them at the same time they took out the R avail check then stopped.

When you say "game routing" I assume you mean EF can help find a legal routing that may not be available on the website that I can try to call in and book?

EWR764

Sadly the latter is probably the fate of all remaining 747s... the most recent retirements have flown straight to TUP for part-out. The resale and cargo conversion market for the 744 has all but dried up, so the the scrapper's torch awaits.

No for the 747, and 777 charters will likely continue to be pulled from the scheduled pool as needed, like the do today. Some of the other DOD charter operators pack 'em in significantly worse than what UA is doing with its 10-abreast 777s. Most sports teams use 737/757/767 aircraft for 'normal' charter flights.

Probably not. I understand the 77W will mostly all be in service by the summer, but the Zodiac delays will impact the reconfiguration timetable of the existing fleet. UA originally intended to have the first aircraft in mod by now, but that's probably not going to happen until the late third quarter due to availability of the seats and the reduced planned downtime of the peak schedule.

Xyzzy

Try originating at PHL or LGA. UA TATL fares filed from EWR d;9n't generally allow travel through other hubs.

eng3

I tried that already. It also won't give me the option to go via SFO. I can force in SFO but for some reason it won't give me the direct LHR flight back. There are less options out of PHL so I'd have a pretty long layover. If that's the case, I could probably just book two separate PNR's and chance it. Though I wouldn't be able to use my GPU for both legs.

Xyzzy

If yu piece it together using something like flights.google.com you can call in and potentially up-fare to W and then try for a single GPU each way.

eng3

HA, I've been reading your mind. I've been trying google as well but it still wont give me SFO unless I force the intl flights to Y which ups the price to >$5K.
Who knew it would be so hard to get my last 747 flight from the east coast. Unfortunately I currently don't have any TPAC plans