London Award Flight to LAX - Need Help!
Dec 10, 2018, 3:30 pm
#17
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,455
Dec 10, 2018, 3:33 pm
#18
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: New York NY
Programs: UA Gold, CO Plat, CO Million Miler
Posts: 2,617
FInd Y savers, and grab them....pay a few hundred to move to Economy + .....so no one is reclining in your face. Sure, it's nice to have Business for a long trip, but not worth cancelling your trip over it...If you don't like Y food, bring on some gourmet sandwiches or whatever you like. as someone says above, it's a day trip. And if you confirm Y Saver, you can always waitlist for business...see this tread for details. Consolidated "Waitlist for Award Seats Questions/Issues"
Last edited by hughw; Dec 10, 2018 at 3:39 pm Reason: removed snark
Dec 10, 2018, 3:44 pm
#19
Join Date: Nov 2012
Programs: BA Bronze, United 1K, HH Gold, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 3,477
Dec 10, 2018, 5:05 pm
#20
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: SFO
Posts: 3,942
But why wait until the very end in that case? The prudent thing to do would have been to look at plan b aka buying tickets in economy T-21 to get the best price
Dec 10, 2018, 5:16 pm
#21
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 78
Actually, I was wrong when I said 3 months. I booked flights there in July! So I checked every day for 5+ months. No big deal malgudi, I'm not complaining and have a good backup trip lined up. Just soliciting help from the community in case somebody knows something I don't know.
Not interested in flying economy home. My plan b trip has been locked in for months. We booked our tickets originally knowing that our worst case scenario is paying $150/each in cancellation fees and it was worth the risk.
No harm, no foul.
Not interested in flying economy home. My plan b trip has been locked in for months. We booked our tickets originally knowing that our worst case scenario is paying $150/each in cancellation fees and it was worth the risk.
No harm, no foul.
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Dec 10, 2018 at 5:40 pm Reason: merging consecutive posts by same member
Dec 10, 2018, 6:32 pm
#22
Join Date: Nov 2012
Programs: BA Bronze, United 1K, HH Gold, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 3,477
Actually, I was wrong when I said 3 months. I booked flights there in July! So I checked every day for 5+ months. No big deal malgudi, I'm not complaining and have a good backup trip lined up. Just soliciting help from the community in case somebody knows something I don't know.
Not interested in flying economy home. My plan b trip has been locked in for months. We booked our tickets originally knowing that our worst case scenario is paying $150/each in cancellation fees and it was worth the risk.
No harm, no foul.
Not interested in flying economy home. My plan b trip has been locked in for months. We booked our tickets originally knowing that our worst case scenario is paying $150/each in cancellation fees and it was worth the risk.
No harm, no foul.
Dec 10, 2018, 7:45 pm
#24
Join Date: Nov 2012
Programs: BA Bronze, United 1K, HH Gold, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 3,477
Dec 11, 2018, 2:25 am
#26
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: UA GS, AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Mlife NOIR
Posts: 320
Your best bet would be to find UA saver economy awards on UA METAL and waitlist for UA saver business -- the agent will need to first book you in saver economy then withdraw the saver business number of miles. While you will most likely not clear until 24 hours before departure, once you go to airport control, you would be at the top of the waitlist (even ahead of GS using GPUs) since you're treated like a displaced business passenger.
I have used this technique many times with success, but it is not guaranteed if the flight is 100% full at T-24h.
I have used this technique many times with success, but it is not guaranteed if the flight is 100% full at T-24h.
Dec 11, 2018, 4:22 am
#27
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 5,439
If you are feeling brave, your best (only) option that might still work in your favour is to leave the return leg to the very very last minute. Some flights will open up around the 24 hour before departure mark for award tickets (even around that Jan 3-6 period). However, you must be willing to both split up and be flexible. Good luck