Searching for R space over more than one day at a time?
Nov 7, 2016, 8:25 pm
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,022
Searching for R space over more than one day at a time?
Looking to redeem some GPU's Phx-Lhr over Christmas. I haven't used the UA site in a while and when I went to do an advanced search I selected "redeem GPU" from the pull down and yes the results showed me what was or wasn't available right now. However when I selected to search other than a specific day of departure and choose a +/- 6 day time frame I wasn't shown options of what had GPU availability but only a grid showing roundtrip fares. Am I doing something wrong or you can only see GPU availability for one day at a time?
Nov 7, 2016, 8:31 pm
#2
Join Date: Mar 2012
Programs: Mileage Plus 1K; Marriott Platinum; Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,355
Looking to redeem some GPU's Phx-Lhr over Christmas. I haven't used the UA site in a while and when I went to do an advanced search I selected "redeem GPU" from the pull down and yes the results showed me what was or wasn't available right now. However when I selected to search other than a specific day of departure and choose a +/- 6 day time frame I wasn't shown options of what had GPU availability but only a grid showing roundtrip fares. Am I doing something wrong or you can only see GPU availability for one day at a time?
Nov 7, 2016, 8:50 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,022
I wouldn't even count on this method to show one day's GPU availability properly. I always do a dummy booking in expert mode and look at the actual availability in fare buckets using Expert Mode. Open up "Details" and you should see exactly how much R space is available.
Nov 7, 2016, 8:58 pm
#4
Join Date: Mar 2012
Programs: Mileage Plus 1K; Marriott Platinum; Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,355
Nov 7, 2016, 9:12 pm
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,022
Oh okay just thought I was doing something wrong. I know my chances are slim but hopefully I can find something. I don't care about my positioning flight in coach. I just want to redeem the GPU over the pond. My dates are open.
Nov 8, 2016, 7:32 am
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,022
Nov 8, 2016, 9:32 am
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,416
Nov 8, 2016, 9:55 am
#9
Join Date: Mar 2012
Programs: Mileage Plus 1K; Marriott Platinum; Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,355
Correct. Clearing R space and married segments have little to do with one another. The only place is they intersect is that R availability in expert mode searches will always default to the lowest level (usually zero) on multi segment flights. That's why you should only check for R space one segment at a time, on the legs that you care most about e.g., those with BF cabins.
I recently booked YVR-LAX-MEL and LAX-MEL was R4 but YVR-LAX was R0. I'm waitlisted YVR-LAX, but clearing R on LAX-MEL for 15.5 hours is really what mattered on this booking.
I recently booked YVR-LAX-MEL and LAX-MEL was R4 but YVR-LAX was R0. I'm waitlisted YVR-LAX, but clearing R on LAX-MEL for 15.5 hours is really what mattered on this booking.
Last edited by transportprof; Nov 8, 2016 at 10:01 am
Nov 8, 2016, 10:01 am
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,022
Correct. Clearing R space and married segments have little to do with one another. The only place is they intersect is that R availability in expert mode searches will always default to the lowest level (usually zero) on multi segment flights. That's why you should only check for R space one segment at a time, on the legs that you care most about e.g., those with BF cabins.
I recently booked YVR-LAX-MEL and on the outbound LAX-MEL was R4 but YVR-LAX was R0. I'm waitlisted YVR-LAX, but clearing R on LAX-MEL for 15.5 hours is really what mattered on this booking.
I recently booked YVR-LAX-MEL and on the outbound LAX-MEL was R4 but YVR-LAX was R0. I'm waitlisted YVR-LAX, but clearing R on LAX-MEL for 15.5 hours is really what mattered on this booking.
Nov 8, 2016, 10:10 am
#11
Join Date: Mar 2012
Programs: Mileage Plus 1K; Marriott Platinum; Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,355
Bottom line: the more effort you put in to searching for R space the "hard" way - day by day, segment by segment, the more R space you're going to find! When you go for one of UA's "enhancements" in IT, you'll get screwed more often than not.
Nov 8, 2016, 10:27 am
#12
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Indianapolis
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Gold, HH Gold, SPG Gold
Posts: 383
Words to live by and well said! ^
Nov 8, 2016, 10:34 am
#13
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: CMH
Programs: UA 1K, 1MM, HH Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 745
When dealing with UA IT the motto to keep in mind is "Embrace the suck" and just slog it out to find what you are looking for. It's a grind but beats being stuck in Y when you could have been in J.
Nov 8, 2016, 11:21 am
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,022
Thanks for the tips folks. Of course other than outbound on the 24th there is no GPU (R) available anywhere phx-lhr (as expected). I tried to search by fare class but got an error message saying R isn't a searchable fare class. When I clicked open the viewable "fare class" window R wasn't there.
I'm very flexible. It's just me and want to get to LHR anytime between 12/19 and back by 12/30. I'm sure something might pop up by then.
I'm very flexible. It's just me and want to get to LHR anytime between 12/19 and back by 12/30. I'm sure something might pop up by then.
Nov 8, 2016, 11:33 am
#15
Join Date: Mar 2012
Programs: Mileage Plus 1K; Marriott Platinum; Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,355
Thanks for the tips folks. Of course other than outbound on the 24th there is no GPU (R) available anywhere phx-lhr (as expected). I tried to search by fare class but got an error message saying R isn't a searchable fare class. When I clicked open the viewable "fare class" window R wasn't there.
I'm very flexible. It's just me and want to get to LHR anytime between 12/19 and back by 12/30. I'm sure something might pop up by then.
I'm very flexible. It's just me and want to get to LHR anytime between 12/19 and back by 12/30. I'm sure something might pop up by then.
Don't apply anything - just search for xxx-LHR and open details to see what the fare buckets tell you. I guarantee you that there is R space hiding there somewhere - you just have to find the needle in the haystack.
I'd begin with each UA hub in this order: IAH, LAX, ORD, IAD, EWR, and SFO and search every day in your range for xxx-LHR. No filters, so special requests, just a vanilla coach one way booking and then disregard everything in the haystack except for the R bucket under "Details".