gene2632

Thanks for the clear explanation JSLoan and yes, I meant ANC. Too many little ones running around here this morning......

747FC, thanks for the input on AC and the 737MAX. I may just wait a bit on booking this stuff because UA's current offers are terrible travel/connection times or very very high prices,even in miles.

alanjudy

Not sure how many people are trying to go to Africa, but if you are, this may help.

I was able to get my desired trip: SFO-WDH, WDH-LUN (excursion perk), and LUN-SFO in C. However it required about 2 hours on the phone with UA agent. Issues faced and resolved:

1) As many have pointed out, flights that show up on one-way search do not show up in multi-city. The agent must build it segment-by-segment manually.
2) A new problem that I've never encountered before. A couple of weeks ago, Aer Lingus started showing up as available. So initially I was trying for SFO-DUB. But this is a phantom availability! The agent couldn't get it through even manually. So I tried just booking a one-way SFO-DUB-ADD-WDH. The booking went through, but then the next day the miles were re-deposited when the SFO-DUB flight was not available. We had to start all over.
3) Bug in the system where Excursion Perk WDH-LUN was priced at 30K per person instead of free. They had to manually override.
4) Surprising, building the itinerary and getting the seats actually went pretty smoothly, but they had to calculate the taxes and fees manually. And this part took about an hour on hold.

But, it's done! Yay!

Moral: avoid the Aer Lingus for now until they iron out the bugs.

hoopics

In the category of beggars probably shouldn't be choosers: somehow I was able to book 4 80k mile saver award tickets IAD-LAX-MEL next summer on the date I want. Problem is, it's a mixed class ticket, with seats in E for the IAD-LAX leg but Polaris for LAX-MEL. Is there any scenario in the future where I can change just the domestic leg into F if availability on that flight changes? If yes, what availability am I looking for, and what's the best way to track it? Thanks for any tips.

findark

You can waitlist the domestic segment for I class now, and it will clear automatically (IN if Plat or higher). Odds not great for IAD-LAX but it's the best you can do.

hoopics

Thanks. Called and was able to do this, no problem. I recognize my chances are poor, but no harm in trying.

Zorg

Miles redeeming newbie here

I'm planning to go to Central Asia from the US, on Turkish, using my MileagePlus miles

The trip is:
In: US > Istanbul (Europe) then Istanbul > Central Asia airport 1
Out: Central Asia airport 2 > Istanbul then Istanbul > US

How would that work booking on United?
Do I need to buy each leg individually? i.e.
US > Europe for 30k
Europe > Central Asia for 30k
Central Asia > Europe for 30k
Europe > US for 30k
Total = 120k

That would be quite pricey... (that would be around $1,700 in miles vs $1,300 in cash)

JayhawkCO

Are you trying to stopover in IST? Or just connect?

Chris

JayhawkCO

Data Point:
Very complicated booking. Four passengers, three separate accounts. Took three hours on the phone to book, but got it done. Couldn't get it set up online as the first leg showed up unavailable when combined with further legs. The (very competent) phone agent had his supervisor manually fare the first portion. He was also frustrated with the new system, like we all are, but understood what needed to get done to book the trip.

My wife and I:
JFK-CAI MS C (12 hour layover)
CAI-JNB MS C
JNB-WDH SA C

VFA-(GBE)-ADD ET C
ADD-SEZ ET Y (Because there were only two seats in C and I gave them to my BIL and SIL)

SEZ-IST TK C
IST-WAW LO C
WAW-ORD LO C

My Brother-In-Law & Sister-In-Law:
JFK-CAI MS C (12 hour layover)
CAI-JNB MS C
JNB-WDH SA C

VFA-JNB SA C
JNB-ADD ET C
ADD-SEZ ET C

SEZ-ADD ET C
ADD-(LFW)-IAH ET C

I couldn't get UA segments added onto any of the flights, but with my wife and I started in DEN and my BIL & SIL starting in SLC, we'll just book some positioning flights and be good to go.

Quick visit to the pyramids, driving safari in Southern Africa, bungee jumping at Victoria Falls, and a quick trip to the Seychelles for relaxing before we head home? Not a bad redemption for 160k per person.

Chris

jsloan

This is the key question.

Sadly, I'm not sure MileagePlus miles are worth 1.4 cents each anymore...

Anyway, as JayhawkCO suggests, the answer depends on two things: whether IST is a destination or just a transfer point, and whether or not United.com will return US->Central Asia 1 ("CA1," below) and Central Asia 2 ("CA2")->US in the search results.

Under the assumption that you're only mentioning IST because you intend to fly Turkish... if, when you search US-CA1 and CA2-US, you see the flights that you want, then the price will be based upon the North America -> Central Asia rate. For example, a search for IAH-FRU (Bishkek) returns 42.5K miles (each way) for an economy award.

If you do not see the flights that you want with a simple search, and you have to use multi-city search to find them, then you will get charged for each leg separately.

Also, note that United's award chart is going away for flights after November 15 of this year, and awards simply cost whatever the computer says they cost. This does not (currently) affect flights that are only on partner metal, but if you have a UA-operated flight at any point in your itinerary, it is affected.

Zorg

JayhawkCO, jsloan, thank you!

There is no non-stop flights US > CA1 or CA2 > US, but it's just a transfer point (I don't need to leave the airport).

On United.com, the search is abysmal... When it doesn't hang on "Loading award flight results..." it returns 180,000 miles + $69 (economy, for my dates +/- 1 day).
(I also see some 42.5K miles flights but at other dates that won't work for me).
That's unfortunate because the NYC <> IST for 2*30k is pretty good.

cheltzel

If you have date restrictions, you need to be flexible in other areas, like airlines, number of connections, etc. And if that doesn't work you may need to be flexible with dates.

venomtrilogy

For a few days I've been trying to book an award trip for a certain date and each time I click for the routing I want I get the "Due to rapidly changing partner availability the following flights are no longer available" message. How long would that option stay listed if it's no longer actually available?

BCasc

transportprof

What is your status in Mileage Plus? Fees depend on status.

jsloan

And the amount of time prior to departure.

If departure is at least 61 days away, fees range from $0 (1K or Platinum) to $75 (General member). If departure is within 60 days, fees range from $0 (1K) to $125 (General member).

OP stated four weeks prior to departure, so the second fee schedule applies.

The fee is per ticket.