smiles33

There's no flexibility as we're traveling in late Sept. during my kids' unusual "Fall Break" from middle school. We prefer nonstop given the headache of missing a connection on our last int'l trip.

Oops, you're right! I missed that the P+ is only available for the NRT-SFO leg. It's not an option on SFO-HND, which I had selected as the outbound flight and didn't realize the list included NRT for the return flight. So there's no way to get P+ unless we fly SFO-NRT-SFO. I was hoping more people would prefer NRT so it might be easier to upgrade to J on this SFO-HND-SFO route.

If we go for the SFO-NRT-SFO flights, my understanding is that you can't upgrade from award tickets, so I'd have to pay cash for the P+ in order to upgrade to J, right?

jsloan

OK; airlines understand this, which is why they tend to charge more for nonstop flights. I don't think there are any major holidays in Japan in September, so the prices you're seeing -- especially for Y -- aren't likely demand-related. They're probably due to two things: (a) there's not a lot of competition on SFO-TYO, and (b) UA doesn't really like to give discount airfare in advance unless they're certain that they have no choice.

Food for thought, understanding that you'd prefer not to connect... Y from SMF is around $1300. From LAX -- about $800.

Assuming you want to stick with SFO-TYO, I'd wait and see price trends. I'd also check SJC-NRT, which ANA operates, and SFO-KIX, if you happen to plan to visit Osaka.

There's no way to get a guaranteed upgrade on award ticket*. You might be able to get a buy-up offer at departure, but there's no way to know for sure in advance.

Well,, if you only want P+ in one direction, ​​​​​​you can certainly fly into one airport and return from the other.

HND is actually more popular than NRT for people going to Tokyo. NRT is better for people who are connecting, but UA's strategy from SFO has been to try to offer a lot of nonstops so that people won't necessarily have to connect. I don't know that there's necessarily much of a pattern as to which airport is easier for upgrades.

* Global Services members can upgrade awards with an upgrade instrument, but that's not an option for anyone else.

findark

The best advice I would give is that for a flight in September, there is absolutely no hurry to book unless you think the price is unreasonably good. The inventory and fares will still be there in August (except maybe that confirmable upgrade on the outbound) and you will otherwise have a better picture of the upgrade chances (like whether you want HND or NRT). I personally think you would have to be crazy to spend $1,900 on Y and then not spend another $400 for PE, but you will see different opinions.

As jsloan notes, if you want to save money, you can split to LAX and knock more than 50% off of your airfare costs. Whether you are game for a split-ticket connection though is another matter.

Repooc17

Advice: do not transfer from credit card programs until you are ready to book. Once transferred, you are stuck with those miles in that program.

Maybe you can look outside UA for award redemption possibilities, but the need for multiple tix is always difficult to come by, even during off seasons. I have had a lot of luck with Alaska, getting confirmed J awarda from the US to Asia such as Japan for 60K-65K on JL one-way.

smiles33

Thank you all! I am shocked to see United's LAX-NRT economy flight is only $780. Wow! I think that's worth dealing with a potential delay in LAX (which wouldn't require an overnight stay like when we were stranded in Frankfurt). I'm trying to figure out where I could use the Chase points and it looks like I could transfer them into Singapore Air KrisFlyer points. Their premium economy seats on the nonstop flight from LAX are the same price as regular economy from SFO on United! Whoa. Clearly I need to do a lot more research. Thanks again!

Aussienarelle

Is the reason i can use the LH Senator lounges because I am 1K or because I am *G? TIA

jsloan

Happy to help. Note that there is risk involved in using separate tickets, which is the only way you'd be able to get that price. Specifically -- if your SFO-LAX flight were delayed such that you mis-connected, UA wouldn't necessarily have any obligation to put you on another flight. In practice, they generally do when both tickets are on UA. And, of course, you'd end up late in Japan. If possible, I'd consider flying (or driving) the night before. You'd still come out way ahead price-wise, even after paying for a hotel room or two.

And, yes, KrisFlyer miles tend to be a pretty good use for Chase points when traveling to Asia. ^

​​​​​​​*G

Marlino

I have some problems to rebook some old (canceld) flight online. I still get always the error messages "Subtotals EUR 3.80 and EUR 8.30 for the XF tax do not match." when im searching for new flights. Is there any way to fix the problem without booking over the hotline?

Thank you

mahasamatman

Definitely sounds like this will require human intervention.

Repooc17

*G

Repooc17

Eastbound transcon on 78J - LAX to EWR - the purser keeps announcing flight time is 4 hours and 5 mins. App says 4 hours and 50 mins.

Don't really care about the accuracy, but is 4 hours even possible?

On that note, not looking forward when 737 Max10 replaces 752. Alaska 739 regularly needed 7 hours plus to fly cross country from the East coast in winter months. I am sure Max10 would be better, but still...

fumje

I think 4 hours flying time eastbound is about normal.

jsloan

United lists the 757 cruise speed at 540 mph; the 737 is 530 mph. That equates to about a five minute difference on a transcontinental flight.

Alaska's 739s take longer in the winter, flying westbound, for the same reason United's 752s do; they're flying into a heavy winter wind. Each BOS-SFO flight today is on a 757, and they're all blocked for 6h48m-6h53m. Delta's 757 flight is blocked for 7h2m; JetBlue's 321s are 6h55m-7h9m; Alaska's 739s are 7h5m-7h10m. I don't know how much schedule padding is in there, but I expect the variation in taxi times based on the time of the day is probably more of a factor in when you'll arrive than the speed of the airplane.

Repooc17

Thanks. The plane cruised well over 700 mph today. Fastest I have seen - great tailwind.

UA247 left an hour before UA2418, UA2418 arrived within minutes after UA247.

Kacee

No chance.

ETA: I don't doubt that's what the display said, but that was not the airspeed.