gk17

Hi,

I'm trying to figure out the best redemption method to book a one way economy flight for the 2 of us from Italy to New York (non-stops or stops whichever is cheaper) on 5/15/2016 in the afternoon/evening. Still learning a lot from the miles game.

I'm currently a United Premier Gold member and have redeemed the 60K miles + ~$135 taxes for the both of us yesterday.

Can I cancel without penalty (within the waived time period) as a Gold member for partner airlines since this booking is done through United but the partner operating it is Air Canada? Does this also apply if I book my flight using Chase UR points for United flights and their partners? I checked and did fine some flights for 30K (after 20% back for being Ink cardholder) but it's with Aeroflot which isn't a partner.

I do have a ton of points with Chase and American Express so I can transfer to the airlines that can get the best value. I should also have sufficient points in AA (over 100K), BA (100K) and and Delta (120K) for 2 economy seats if those have any partners. AA charges way too much fuel surcharges since the flights I wanted are through BA.

I tried using FlyerMiler and looked through them but my options seems to be limited to those only. Wanted to look at KrisFlyer also but needed an account first. Looked at their Award chart instead and see that they seem to start off at 55K from Europe to North America.

Any assistance or confirmation that the award booking I made is best is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

WineCountryUA

Any ticket can be cancelled / change in the first 24 hours with no fees. After that there are reduced fees for UA Golds using their miles for cancelling or changing award fees -- does not matter if a partner airline is involved.

Details, see
UA's Award ticketing options/service fees
and
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...5-forward.html

jmanirish

Don't use DL miles. Even if you find a saver level award (rare), award travel that originates outside of the US is subject to steep surcharges (IIRC, EUR 200-300/pax).

I know you're looking for afternoon/evening, but honestly if it were me, I'd rather take the non-stops (which are morning flights) because realistically, how much more can you see/do with an afternoon flight by the time you leave?

UA and AA both have departures around 940-10am (UA to EWR, AA to JFK). Nothing available on the UA flight (but the seating map looks pretty full) but I'd keep trying for that since you're UA Gold you get E+ seats and lounge access.
One thing that I recall from my AA days - you (including non elites) can change the routing without any additional fees. So you could book something that is tolerable now, and keep checking for better alternatives. But definitely check with the AA experts on this one, don't want to give bad info. You could also do FCO-LHR(BA)-JFK(AA). The BA surcharge on that would be minimal, but taxes would be ~$148 because of the connection in LHR ($44) and also $20 FCO tax (this part will be the same across all carrriers though) (and there's a 7:30 PMLHR-JFK on AA, so you could do FCO-LHR-JFK leaving FCO at 315; the LHR-JFK has availability so would just need BA to open up FCO-LHR)

gk17

Thanks for the replies. I couldn't find any availability from FCO to LHR in economy for BA. Looks like only Business class is available for that date. I'll ask in the AA section.

3Cforme

With the Europe origin, a DL award is indeed tagged with an International Origin Surcharge. In coach on FCO-JFK that is Euro 108/person. The OP says he wants cheap but there's value in non-stop - DL or AZ-operated.