Dec 27, 2016, 9:23 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
United's Announcement and FAQ
Kacee's Interpretation
Main Impact Since October 6
Useful Links
This is an archive thread, the active thread is Award booking questions/ issues/ routing/ excursionist problems / help
Kacee's Interpretation
Main Impact Since October 6
- Fee Changes such as platinum members are subject to various award fees
- No more free stopover - replaced with Excursionist Perk
- Agents no longer have the ability to find routings that do not show up on united.com
- Manually constructing trips using multi-city search results in multiple award fares being charged
- Changing any segment MIGHT require current availability for all existing Os&Ds in the PNR (as if a brand new booking is made) - YMMV
- Singapore Airlines segments are priced separately (add-ons)
Useful Links
This is an archive thread, the active thread is Award booking questions/ issues/ routing/ excursionist problems / help
UA award booking,change questions/fees/issues/routing/excursionist problems {Archive}
Jan 5, 2019, 5:31 pm
#2941
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,443
Short Haul within US?
Apologies if there is an obvious answer somewhere--I haven't kept up with award travel rules.
Is there no sub-10k award travel within US? I found some blog that implies such, but I had not been aware of it being the case. I thought the sub-500mi or so could be 7 or 8k.
--
Hopefully gone just to update with PE awards, but I am not holding my breath.
Is there no sub-10k award travel within US? I found some blog that implies such, but I had not been aware of it being the case. I thought the sub-500mi or so could be 7 or 8k.
--
May be click bait but blogger thinks UA May be following DL and eliminating award charts.
https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea...-award-charts/
https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea...-award-charts/
Jan 9, 2019, 5:30 am
#2942
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: NYC / MIA / AMS
Programs: UA 1k
Posts: 499
Is there any hard logic on when the engine will allow an award pairing or not:
Trying to get from KIX to NYC.
They have availability on OZ 111 (KIX-ICN)
and then OZ 222 (ICN-JFK) T+1 (connection is ~22h)
But the awards won't pair, so it'd cost significantly more miles.
However, from tokyo i can get the following:
OZ 105 (NRT-ICN)
OZ 222 (ICN-JFK) T+ 1 (layover is ~13 hours)
Any thoughts why?
Trying to get from KIX to NYC.
They have availability on OZ 111 (KIX-ICN)
and then OZ 222 (ICN-JFK) T+1 (connection is ~22h)
But the awards won't pair, so it'd cost significantly more miles.
However, from tokyo i can get the following:
OZ 105 (NRT-ICN)
OZ 222 (ICN-JFK) T+ 1 (layover is ~13 hours)
Any thoughts why?
Jan 9, 2019, 7:45 am
#2943
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,337
Jan 10, 2019, 2:15 pm
#2944
Join Date: May 2012
Programs: Delta Plat, UA Plat, Hilton Diamond, SPG Gold
Posts: 258
Was trying to do a one way NRT-IAH on ANA today on UA website and got an error after payment. I called 1k and they said the economy saver was phantom and ANA has not fully opened their seats. I ask when can i try again...they said try every two-three days.
Anyone else have this issue? I don't have the time to deal with that and UA flight later that day is double the mile amount...
Anyone else have this issue? I don't have the time to deal with that and UA flight later that day is double the mile amount...
Jan 10, 2019, 6:48 pm
#2945
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Hawai'i Nei
Programs: Au: UA, Marriott, Hilton; GE
Posts: 7,125
Was trying to do a one way NRT-IAH on ANA today on UA website and got an error after payment. I called 1k and they said the economy saver was phantom and ANA has not fully opened their seats. I ask when can i try again...they said try every two-three days.
Anyone else have this issue? I don't have the time to deal with that and UA flight later that day is double the mile amount...
Anyone else have this issue? I don't have the time to deal with that and UA flight later that day is double the mile amount...
Jan 11, 2019, 9:29 am
#2946
Moderator: Smoking Lounge; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: SFO
Programs: Lifetime (for now) Gold MM, HH Gold, Giving Tootsie Pops to UA employees, & a retired hockey goalie
Posts: 28,877
Apologies if I missed the answer in this thread....
*long story
- Booked an award trip with miles from my account (gold) for goalie-parents.
- Outbound portion flown
- They may not take the return trip in April and come back via other means*
- If I do cancel the return portion, what happens w/r/t the miles, fees and etc? 100% sure I pay a re-deposit fee but not sure about anything else as I've never had to experience this
*long story
Jan 11, 2019, 9:52 am
#2947
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,337
What you can do is change the return flight to something else; as a gold, you'd pay a $25 fee if done more than 60 days before travel and $75 otherwise. So, if they're booked CLE-FLL-CLE, and they don't want FLL-CLE, but they're taking a trip to California in October, you could change to CLE-FLL / LAX-CLE, etc.
Jan 11, 2019, 12:59 pm
#2948
Moderator: Smoking Lounge; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: SFO
Programs: Lifetime (for now) Gold MM, HH Gold, Giving Tootsie Pops to UA employees, & a retired hockey goalie
Posts: 28,877
Nothing. You can't get the miles back -- it's not possible to turn a RT into a one-way after travel begins.
What you can do is change the return flight to something else; as a gold, you'd pay a $25 fee if done more than 60 days before travel and $75 otherwise. So, if they're booked CLE-FLL-CLE, and they don't want FLL-CLE, but they're taking a trip to California in October, you could change to CLE-FLL / LAX-CLE, etc.
What you can do is change the return flight to something else; as a gold, you'd pay a $25 fee if done more than 60 days before travel and $75 otherwise. So, if they're booked CLE-FLL-CLE, and they don't want FLL-CLE, but they're taking a trip to California in October, you could change to CLE-FLL / LAX-CLE, etc.
Jan 13, 2019, 8:38 am
#2949
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: NYC / MIA / AMS
Programs: UA 1k
Posts: 499
Just for peoples information, it appears you can no longer route Japan <> US Award Flights through Mainland China. Searched a bunch of dates lots of segment availability but no one-way availability.
Jan 14, 2019, 3:25 pm
#2950
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bay Area
Programs: DL SM, UA MP.
Posts: 12,729
Been doing some award searches for late August, early September.
Seems they're showing mostly LOT J Saver awards for TATL. That's either to big Western European hubs or secondary airports like VCE.
Most of them show 32-33 hour outbounds so I won't choose those segments but curious if anyone has flown them through Warsaw as a way to get to Southern European destinations.
Hoping other choices come up. There are some awards on OS but they're always paired with a Y segment for SFO-ORD.
Seems they're showing mostly LOT J Saver awards for TATL. That's either to big Western European hubs or secondary airports like VCE.
Most of them show 32-33 hour outbounds so I won't choose those segments but curious if anyone has flown them through Warsaw as a way to get to Southern European destinations.
Hoping other choices come up. There are some awards on OS but they're always paired with a Y segment for SFO-ORD.
Jan 14, 2019, 8:02 pm
#2951
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Japan
Posts: 5,577
Been doing some award searches for late August, early September.
Seems they're showing mostly LOT J Saver awards for TATL. That's either to big Western European hubs or secondary airports like VCE.
Most of them show 32-33 hour outbounds so I won't choose those segments but curious if anyone has flown them through Warsaw as a way to get to Southern European destinations.
Hoping other choices come up. There are some awards on OS but they're always paired with a Y segment for SFO-ORD.
Seems they're showing mostly LOT J Saver awards for TATL. That's either to big Western European hubs or secondary airports like VCE.
Most of them show 32-33 hour outbounds so I won't choose those segments but curious if anyone has flown them through Warsaw as a way to get to Southern European destinations.
Hoping other choices come up. There are some awards on OS but they're always paired with a Y segment for SFO-ORD.
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Jan 14, 2019 at 11:57 pm Reason: repaired quote
Jan 17, 2019, 6:54 am
#2952
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: TPE/KHH/LAX
Programs: JL Diamond, CX MPC Silver, OW Emerald, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 1,144
Maximum layover time for one-way award?
I am trying to book a one way award from LAX to NGO via SFO and HND. If possible, I would like to stay overnight in SFO. I remember the maximum layover time between segments used to be 24 hrs or less. Since the SFO-HND flight departs at 10am ish, I wanted to book a late morning flight from SNA to SFO on the day before but instead the system only gave me flights that leave in the evening. Has the rules for award ticket changed? Or can I only book the current offer and call United Reservation for changes?
Last edited by gijoe24jp; Jan 17, 2019 at 6:54 am Reason: add information
Jan 17, 2019, 7:13 am
#2953
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,399
The rules have not changed, but the booking process has. You are generally limited to what the system offers you, and the choices tend to be much fewer than what was offered in the past. You could try calling to book the combination you want, but there's a good chance the result will be the same.
Jan 17, 2019, 11:55 am
#2954
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: JAX
Programs: UA Plat MM, AA Gold MM, Marriott LTT, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 3,770
I am trying to book a one way award from LAX to NGO via SFO and HND. If possible, I would like to stay overnight in SFO. I remember the maximum layover time between segments used to be 24 hrs or less. Since the SFO-HND flight departs at 10am ish, I wanted to book a late morning flight from SNA to SFO on the day before but instead the system only gave me flights that leave in the evening. Has the rules for award ticket changed? Or can I only book the current offer and call United Reservation for changes?
The rules have not changed, but the booking process has. You are generally limited to what the system offers you, and the choices tend to be much fewer than what was offered in the past. You could try calling to book the combination you want, but there's a good chance the result will be the same.
This sounds like UA control of domestic award availability which I have to deal with all the time. I can't get from RIC-ORD to be able to do ORD-XXX TPAC.
Jan 18, 2019, 11:50 am
#2955
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 9
My wife and I are headed to Italy next year on Business award tickets. Currently booked PDX->LHR, then the next day LHR->MXP (free Excursionist flight), and returning MXP->PDX after 2 weeks in Italy.
We don't like the LHR->MXP flight and after thinking about it, we'd rather save a long travel day and just book a nonstop regional flight LHR->FCO as Rome is our first real destination of our Italy trip anyway.
I don't want to pay $75 per ticket to cancel a free award ticket. I think that's ridiculous, but that's what the CSR told me. Is there any way to get around it, besides hanging up and trying for a more sympathetic agent?
I am worried about a no-show for the LHR->MXP leg impacting my return flight from Italy.
We don't like the LHR->MXP flight and after thinking about it, we'd rather save a long travel day and just book a nonstop regional flight LHR->FCO as Rome is our first real destination of our Italy trip anyway.
I don't want to pay $75 per ticket to cancel a free award ticket. I think that's ridiculous, but that's what the CSR told me. Is there any way to get around it, besides hanging up and trying for a more sympathetic agent?
I am worried about a no-show for the LHR->MXP leg impacting my return flight from Italy.
