Hi all,

We are trying to book our honeymoon flights from either SFO or LAX to CPT or JOH on 5/28, with United saver (chase points). I can't find 2 business saver seats on any flights, especially those that connect through Europe.

I have learned to look for the "I" "IN" seat buckets on expert mode. But some flights do not have that as an option.... On the below flight what is the business award code?

C9 D9 Z9 R0 J0 Y9 S9 B9 P9 A9 E9 M9 H9 Q9 V9 W9 U9 K9 L9 T9 O0 G9 N0

-Does more availability in general Business and first class help my chances of finding saver tickets?
-Should we hold out to see if saver tickets open, or book a less ideal flight now before United rolls out their new Everyday fares.
- If we book one saver ticket and wait list an economy using the business points trick, would we sit together if we cleared?

Any and all tips & tricks to get us flyin' in style on our honeymoon would be appreciated!

This is a partner flight, right? Not operated by UA? Partner flights don't always have I. In fact, I've seen it appear for two weeks, then disappear completely after.

- Generally, yes. But I don't think there's a direct correlation.
- Do you have status? If no, you will get hit with a change fee if you try to change it after booking. But yes, it appears the rates will be increasing, so I would try and book before.
- There's no guarantee. If you clear far enough from departure, you could. If not, you'd be at the mercy of other passengers. Also, UA-operated flights and non-UA operated flights operate differently in terms of waitlisting, and ability to waitlist for an award.

I'd share a little more information for your itinerary, then people on this forum could really be of better assistance.

Welcome to FT, Krparker

a partner flight? Award classes are only shown for UA operated flights with Expert Mode.

Maybe close in, but more than a couple weeks out, it does not.
Hard to predict in advance. Suspect it may be a coin toss depending on popularity of route
Maybe, maybe not. Dependents on available seats when the waitlist clears. The closer to departure, the harder it will be to find two adjacent seats.

That’s not true. Award classes are shown for flights that appear in the search results using their native flight numbers. They are not shown for codeshares because the award buckets don’t exist in codeshare inventory. So, if your search results show LH1234, it (should) have X, I, and O (if applicable) buckets; if they show UA7234, operated by LH, it won’t.

Expert mode is of limited utility when it comes to award searches, however, now that UA has removed the ability to construct your own award by piecing together flights with availability. Since the new system only allows you to book flights if they appear on a search from your origin to your destination, just do that.

If you really want to see award inventory buckets, consider an ExpertFlyer subscription at $10/month. The search results there won’t show I2 — they just show yes/no depending on the number you request — but you can set up an alert to be notified if availability appears. ExpertFlyer doesn’t have access to IN inventory, but IN > I is extremely rare anyway.

Also, don’t forget that with Chase points, you have other program options as well. KrisFlyer (from Singapore Airlines) is worth a look if you don’t mind adding a connection; you may be able to find inventory on JFK-FRA or IAH-MAN that connects to Africa. Also, you have access to British Airways (but beware — they charge for fuel surcharges), Air France, Virgin Atlantic, and Korean Air (SkyTeam / Delta partner). I’m not sure which of the programs besides BA charges the fuel surcharge, but anyway it’s worth considering.

+1
Use the award search tool, not expert mode, to search for award flights.

I've never seen more than 4 for inventory on a partner flight, which led me to believe that what the OP showed was indeed United inventory. Then again, having S between Y and B is odd.

It depends upon the partner. Some definitely go up to 9. And, I agree � I didn�t notice S. That doesn�t look like codeshare inventory to me. I�m not sure what that is, actually.

I see 2 saver biz seats ORD-CPT on 5/28 via ZRH on LX. I might book these and attempt to get a supervisor to add a saver economy SFO/LAX-ORD 5/27 within the free change window (no saver SFO-ORD available 5/28 currently). Then keep checking frequently for a better routing which may turn up later.

FWIW, looks like OZ601 ICN-SYD on 02MAR18 is I9.

I'm not new here, but took a bit of a hiatus....What is going on with premium cabin saver availability?? It seems to be extremely limited for this 1K, even on domestic routes. I use my miles to book for my folks and it's getting pretty tough to find saver inventory. And I noticed this in my recent search "Exclusively available to you as a MileagePlus Premier� member and MileagePlus Chase Cardmember".

I feel like it's always been like this? But I don't book award flights using miles domestically. So my input is limited to when I peruse the calendar looking for flights for my friends/parents.

With the low P fares and "buy-up" fares after booking, getting an 'upgrade' fare domestically has seemed to get significantly harder for many as of the past 1-2 years.

Hi all,

Thank you for all the responses! I have been using the award tool, and checking everyday for the past two weeks, but nothing has opened up. I do not have status, but I'd be willing to risk a change fee so that is great advice to book now. I guess I could open a United Chase CC, but not sure how many reserved spots it would open up, and if it would be worth the effort?

- I set up many award alerts through Expert Flyer, so hoping one of those will bing me.
- For Krisflyer but we would need an additional 80k points in order to fly them.

I did find some availability yesterday through ANA website from IAD to JOH but it was on Ethiopian airlines... which doesn't look all that great. Anyone flown their business class and have any opinions about it?

Thanks!