jhayes_1780

Please don't hold me to this... but I *think* the partnership is only on paid tickets.

mduell

https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...tique-air.html at least implies you can use UA MP miles on Boutique Air, although it doesn't explicitly say so.

stopdiabetes

Fare classes A, B, D, G, H, K, N, V, W and Y are eligible for accrual.

mduell

But we're talking about @Yannick Concordel's question about redemptions.

jhayes_1780

I would agree, "using miles" is a clear implication that it should be possible (opening up space is an entirely different issue).

FWIW, I was looking at their flights and they don't seem to even show the presence of award buckets.

Exleftseat

My dream to be on the Pilatus one more time. Will have to work harder on that one. This thread is a great start.

narvik

Had to look that up, as I immediately thought of the PC6 and figured: NO WAY! I see they're PC-12....makes more sense now!

dinoscool3

Going in for the film festival?

mahasamatman

There are only two seats I'd like to be in on a PC-12, and I don't think United sells those.

der_saeufer

The MP website explicitly says that "You can book award travel on Boutique Air through united.com" but even looking into 2020 and using the calendar I'm unable to see a single award seat on any 4B flight, whether alone or in conjunction with mainline UA. Revenue fares pop up just fine even for itineraries without any UA.

...but I'm delighted to see that I can waste an extra $100 and most of a day flying DEN-CEZ-PHX here in a couple months. I'm totally doing it.

Yannick Concordel

Wedding actually.

perkele

same experience here. went with MTJ.

aCavalierInCoach

not certain but am guessing the contract is "at risk" -- SkyWest flew some routes under this operating framework historically, and much to my chagrin those particular flights were not available for awards as the capacity was not strictly controlled by United.

jsloan

This is slightly different, actually.

SkyWest (OO) "at-risk" flights are supposed to be covered under the United last-seat award guarantee, because the flight is marketed as "OO dba United Express." (Also, I don't believe you can buy the flight under an OO code). I agree that there have been issues booking them on the website, but an agent should have been able to force them through.

However, Boutique (4B) is a different story. You can buy these flights under the 4B code, and, critically, 4B is not United Express. If you look at the search results, you'll see "Operated by 4B," not "Operated by 4B dba United Express." Here's a search result that indicates the difference:

Thus, 4B is merely a codeshare partner. Its inventory is not covered under the last-seat award guarantee, and any award seats that they make available would be strictly under the terms of a MileagePlus agreement between UA and 4B, like any other partner (e.g., Hawaiian). If 4B hasn't released any seats, there's nothing UA can do but ask.

marcusf

For those interested in Pilatus Planes and classical music, check out the movie Vitus. It is a charming Swiss film that features a Pilatus PC-6.