WineCountryUA

No one but UA.

Do you have any status or a UA branded credit card? If so you would have last seat award availability ( at "everyday" price).

saaveraward

No and forgot about the card perk and don't carry that card any more. I'm above Chase 5/24 too.

For those with neither, is there a time in the calendar when everyday awards typically open? Perhaps because I'm looking around EOC, nothing is open?

jsloan

There's no particular time when they typically open, but end-of-calendar is when they typically don't open. They tend to open only the full-fare buckets (and last-seat available awards) for some time after the flight is added to the calendar. Sometimes it's a few days; sometimes it's a month; sometimes, they never end up opening everyday award space.

WineCountryUA

You will need HN ZN inventory which tracks H Z fare class. So if at the beginning of schedule, that should happen anytime in the next month or so. Although UA is taking longer and longer to do this.

A caution post-Nov 15, 2019 the system is change and we don't yet fully understand the new system.
Changes To UA MileagePlus Coming On NOV 15, 2019 (Dynamic UA Awards - No More Chart)

jsloan

Actually, OP is looking for domestic first, so ZN class.

As you point out, though, there's no way to tell how many miles UA may want for that flight.

ProfessorChaos

If I book a United award flight in business at "Everyday" rates, and Lufthansa business/first opens up a few days before departure, can I change to the Lufthansa flight simply by paying the close-in change/cancel fee?

And can I do this as a change rather than a cancel/re-book?

findark

Yes, assuming you could otherwise book the LH flight as part of a new itinerary.

ProfessorChaos

Thanks - and, for example, if the UA award was 136k miles, and LH space opens at 70k, I get 66k miles refunded after paying one change fee?

(Sorry if that seems obvious; the idea that UA would permit you to get good value from miles seems dubious these days).

(And I know that LH might go to dynamic award pricing in the future).

WineCountryUA

Was this a one segment award or are there other flights on the ticket?

Nowadays, a change (especially with partner flights) is basically a complete cancel and rebook the entire new ticket with new inventory.

jsloan

Yes, that's correct, provided you're talking about replacing the entire itinerary. If UA connections are involved, all bets are off.

ProfessorChaos

I'm thinking of a simple nonstop like SFO-FRA, so no connection issues.

Since I'll likely only be Silver at the time of the flight, I wanted to make sure I wouldn't be charged a $100 cancel fee, and then a $50 close-in booking fee on top.

shotime1

I currently have the following award: VIE-LAX(OS)-SFO(UA) in J. I am now going to be in BUD at the end of my trip and so would like to tack on BUD-VIE(OS). I see in the FAQ that "Changing any segment MIGHT require current availability for all existing Os&Ds in the PNR (as if a brand new booking is made) - YMMV" Would that be the case with this change as well where I'm adding a segment instead of changing a segment?

Right now I'm currently holding out for availability in LH F to open up, but in the event that doesn't happen I'll need to get that BUD-VIE flight and I'm trying to figure out if that's going to cause issues. Since I don't have UA status, I'm trying not call UA now to make the change because I don't want to pay $250 (2 pax) now and then again if LH space opens up later...

Thanks.

WineCountryUA

Yes, that will be true for any change.

A train to BUD or even a cash flight is likely cheaper than the change fee

shotime1

Thanks. Train is definitely cheaper than the change fee, but the flight out of VIE is at 10:00 AM so I'd rather take the 7:00 AM flight as opposed to a 4:00 AM train (I haven't actually checked to see if they run that early). The flights are actually quite expensive cash (about $330 each in Y), but plentiful economy and business award availability. It would almost make sense for me to pay the close-in booking fee plus 8k miles for the Y award, but I'd much rather not have to fork over the extra miles!

jsloan

Note that you might have to pay the extra 8K miles anyway, and that's assuming that you get an agent who (a) can make the change and (b) will.

In order to get the extra segment without paying extra miles, the entire itinerary would need to appear on an origin to destination search -- so, you'd have to see BUD-VIE-LAX-SFO as an option on your search. (Or, if you see LH F, you'd need BUD-MUC/FRA-(US connecting city)-SFO). If the only way to see availability is to piece it together, an agent is likely to charge you piece-by-piece.