Kacee

30, with two currently in mods.

uastarflyer

spartacusmcfly

bocastephen

That's how my SFO HKG flight looked a few days before departure, but it went out completely full with minimal NRSA up front - the back filled up with folks who I assume did not reserve seats ahead of time because the upgrade and standby lists were not that long.

warrenw

All of our senior leadership who get business class allowances only care about one thing - timing. Sure, all of them have airlines they prefer, have status on, etc. but one of them is even GS and he flew Korean Air just because the timing was better for him on that particular trip. Every business class travel executive cares about timing the most. When does the flight leave, when does it arrive, and how painful are the connections (if any). While every one of them (that I've met, at least) is well versed in which airline offers what seats, all they care about is schedule.

UA_Flyer

I travel about 75% for business and 25% personal travel (approximately of 400K BIS travel each year). The factors influencing my choice are (in terms of importance):

1. Schedules and timing
Meetings and business commitments are the most important. There are calls scheduled around the clock and the ability to participate on the calls while traveling is quite important in choosing the flights

2. Price
I have control over my unit's annual travel budget (approved by my employer on an annual basis), I make sure I have enough budgets for unexpected travel needs, so I typically choose discount business fares when I know the schedules are certain and go for full fares if I can anticipate there will be changes ahead of time.

3. Airlines Status
I try to fly UA and SQ the most and then other *A carriers. I don't usually consider non-*A airlines unless scheduling or price becomes a factor. Airlines status helps during irregular operations and need to get on alternative flights and provide hotel rooms during cancellations or delays. GS and PPS have served me well.

4. PQM and RDM
PQM and RDM all go to United M+ to earn additional GPUs and RPUs for personal and family travels.

5. Upgrade space and Seats and type of aircrafts
Sure, for my personal travel, I care most about upgrade space and types of planes/configurations. For business travel, meeting time and work commitments are the most important. Do I like 1-2-1 Polaris seats? sure, but I settle for 2-4-2 because work comes first in the event of better schedule and pricing. Sometimes, I have extra GPUs to burn, I upgrade myself to Global First on the three-class planes. In fact, I am doing it today on my LHR-IAD flight using GPU/D fare.

So, yes, seats are important but there are more important things in life than get upset about airplane cabins.

Kacee

Huh? July and August are the slowest months of the year for business travel. And business travel drives premium cabin demand on this route. SFO-HKG has been a pretty easy upgrade in July/August for years. And Thursday westbound is one of the easiest days of the week for upgrades. Saturday and Sunday are the high demand business travel days on SFO-HKG.

Bottom line: You can't draw any conclusions (or at least not credible ones) about how this route is doing by looking at J loads on a Thursday in July or August.

twkidM3

My main route is from SFO to TPE and we do this about 4 times a yr. Loved the fact that Polaris seats were available as we're booking confirmed seats in business w/ instruments. Sucks that things are changing and it looks like the "placeholder" idea isn't going to go away.

krispykrme

twkidM3

Hmm, is it cheaper?
Sfo to Tpe on a discounted W fare is $1100-1200 + GPU. How much does it cost to fly BR? Which fare do I need to buy (economy/premium economy)? How many miles to upgrade?

Wise-Broccoli8301

I guess this gives me a good excuse to fly BR later this year to avoid 772s. I already qualified for 1K, and GS is unlikely given we don't travel enough, so

spin88

Day matters a lot, but having flown SFO-HKG at least a few times a year for the last 20 years, Y is almost always, every day, full in Y in June/July/August. In my searches for asian trips the last year, UA appears to almost always be the cheap ride, and my only guess is that a combo of how horrible the 77W is product wise, and how horrible UA service is, that the book away is strong.

While I think CX has been stupid in many ways to cut back the J service quality (so says everyone I know in HKG) United has set it self up to be fighting with Hong Kong Airlines for the bargain basement el chepo delux travelers.

jsloan

No, it's absolutely not cheaper. However, EVA and Asiana sometimes have upgradable fares that aren't a great deal more expensive than a UA W fare. Pretty much nobody else does, although as more airlines add PE fares to the list, it's worth keep an eye open.

The valid fare classes are Y&B* for OZ and Y, B, and K (full-fare premium economy) for BR. You can't waitlist these awards, and nobody's really sure what the inventory is. (It appears to be a hidden subset of the business class award inventory).

* or C&D, for Business -> First.

Kacee

el cheapo? Friend just paid $15k for a last minute C ticket on UA SFO-HKG flying this week. All cheaper fare buckets were sold out in both directions.

BR upgrade inventory is Z. That's not subject to debate.

krispykrme