jh6000

Hi, all,

As many of you have probably read, there is talk of Korean Air and Asiana combining. Some press says that the two brands would be kept sepratae and just their LCC combined. Given knowledge of the possible combination:

Given this background, would you book a United Mileage Plus Award for 2021 on Asiana ? (Essentially, do i risk having the award fall through if the airlines do consolidate under Korean Air? Or, is United essentially locking in that seat -- and payment to Asiana -- when I book a confirmed award seat?). My ultimate destination is Taiwan, and Asiana offers lots of J class to Seoul connecting to TPE. (I prefer EVA but inventory is not showing when I'd like to go).

Thanks.

John H

jsloan

Yes, because...


Probably not, but...


No; however...


This is why I'd feel comfortable doing it.

If OZ were to stop operating and refuse to honor existing award reservations, UA will allow you to change to any other available award, and they will open up inventory on their own metal if necessary. So, the worst realistic case is that you end up on UA to TPE instead of OZ.

WineCountryUA

As the OP previously posted in KAL Buys OZ - Impact on *A Awards and Codeshares and as double posting is a violation of FT Rules will close this thread. Please follow the discussion in the original posting.

WineCountryUA
UA coModerator

gordo6

BTW, is there any way of seeing OZ availability other than doing a dummy booking?

Kmxu

This is the only way. You find the flights that you want/need and make the agent’s job easier.
Good luck.

rmc1

I'm looking to book award ticket on Asiana using United miles but every time I search NYC/JFK to ICN, it won't show any Asiana flights. Am I missing something? The United page says "You can book award travel on Asiana Airlines through united.com".

jsloan

Asiana (OZ) may not have opened any award availability on your dates, or you may be trying to travel during a high-demand period, where UA blocks out OZ awards because OZ charges more for them.

You’re not doing anything wrong; there just aren’t any seats.

rmc1

The first issue is that the United search is just bad. I was just looking at Oct 2023 (on way, flexible dates) but I'm guessing that is high season as there was not 1 award seat the entire month. Next I looked at November and did find some in coach. When I search for biz awards it does show values in the calendar, like 200k for 15 Nov 2023 but when you select it and scroll down, it only shows coach for 38.5k miles.

When we last used miles on Asiana in 2015 I don't remember any problems at all. We usually book 330 days out so used to find availability (even in first). It appears that United does not have ANY flights in biz/first on Asiana that I can find. Are there any tips/tricks to booking biz/first on Asiana using United miles? We're looking at traveling May 2024 so I'm trying to do the legwork now to see what might be available but right now it appears nothing is available. If someone has documented tips and tricks, please let me know!

WineCountryUA

The decision to offer OZ awards is not UAs, but OZ's. OZ releases inventory for certain dates to it *A partners and that's what you will find on UA.

OZ is rumored to merge with Korean Air (KE) in the future and it is expected to exit *A prior to that (sometime in 2024/2025?). So OZ may being a bit cautious in releasing long term awards.

kb1992

Tried to book OZ Y award PVG-ICN for March 29.

Everything went fine until the final payment page. It won't issue a ticket.

I checked SQ website, there is availability using SQ miles for this.

Does UA now block OZ awards??

boat stuck

I booked OZ ICN-HGH last week and it was fine. An absolute bargain at 8.8k miles/ticket. Try a different date? Might be a phantom inventory problem on OZ's end.

Kacee

If UA was blocking awards, you wouldn't see availability.

Phantom inventory or an IT glitch are the two likely answers. "Blocking awards" is pretty much never the answer.

kb1992

I tried twice, and could not get this ticketed.

Not sure if this is phantom inventory since SQ Kris Flyer shows availability.

kb1992

I tried again PVG ICN OZ awards for few other dates.

OZ awards are wide open, every day. Yet, none can be booked.

Finally called UA. The agent checked with her supervisor and told me OZ awards on these dates are not available to United.

SQ shows availability for the identical OZ flights. I haven't tried to book because UA has better deal 9.6K miles vs. 13.5K SQ miles and UA charges less tax.

narvik

9600 miles?