findark

I would not say that, but it's going to take a lot more work and flexibility. If you are willing to firm up plans on a week or two of notice, I think it's fairly plausible. But definitely not as easy.

I just went looking for the easiest award space - yes I know it will be the dead of winter down there


ed. for example on that Thursday I see LO I space on ORD-KRK. Not sure how easily that can be threaded into a domestic connector (takes a lot of badgering agents these days) and it's probably I1, but you get the idea.

threeoh

Seeing J saver (I) on the ORD-KRK flight June 27, LO 10 (787 lie-flat).

I was looking at these dates to Europe a week or two ago and saw at least one UA seat to LHR and LH ORD-FRA on a few dates, though they seem to be gone now. But I expect other stuff will pop up here and there.

findark

As an example, I'm headed to Europe in a couple of weeks and have recently seen, among other things: ORD-FRA x2, EWR/JFK-FRA, ORD-MUC, IAD-FRA, EWR-MAN, SFO-CPH, SFO-MUC, SFO-ZRH, in addition to my long-gone original booking of YYZ-CPH.

Many come and go in as little as a day or two.

ChuckieB

I did search the thread, so apologies if I missed the answer to this. I have the upcoming itinerary purchased during that NZ biz sale back in Jan, tickets are on NZ stock.

I have DL DM status but haven't flown UA in years so I'm not sure I know exactly how to read their rules. I plan to use this to match to 1K (and then fly the rest to make 1K organically) for the upgrades because my wife flies UA a lot for work, so I need to understand the PQM earnings.

Distances below are from GreatCircleMapper. If I read the UA page correctly this should earn 300% (of the base miles) PQM on the UA J fares, 200% PQM on the UA Z fare, and the NZ (Z) fares should earn 150% PQM, correct?

So, about a total of about 37,600 PQM for this itinerary. Did I miss something obvious or get something glaringly wrong? Other than I should have made sure we were on United metal for the return from Sydney, that's glaringly obvious to me 4 months later.

ORD-SFO, UA first (J), 1604 NM x 3, 4812 PQM
SFO-SYD, UA Polaris (J), 6445 NM x 3, 19335 PQM
SYD-AKL, NZ biz (Z), 1169 NM x 1.5, 1754 PQM
AKL-SFO, NZ biz (Z), 5662 x 1.5, 8493 PQM
SFO-ORD, UA first (Z), 1604 NM x 2, 3208 PQM

Thanks for your help, folks.

Kacee

When you pull this itinerary up on the UA website, what booking classes does it show for the UA segments?

jsloan

You used nautical miles instead of statute miles, so the values are all low. The multipliers seem correct if the NZ tickets actually booked into UA J. (I'm surprised that would have been the case). Z is a discount business fare class on NZ just like it is on UA.

Of course, only the UA PQM will generally qualify for a status match, but I think you know that.

PS: I should clarify -- when you list these fare classes, what's your source? And, if it's the NZ receipt, are they using UA or NZ flight numbers? This makes a big difference. If your outbound is UA flight numbers -- UA J class -- you're going to get 300%. If it's a NZ flight number, you're going to get 150-200%, depending upon the UA fare class that NZ J maps to.

venomtrilogy

I'm 1K traveling with a non-status partner next week. On the return, we are taking separate flights to different destinations. There was an equipment change on my partner's return and they were moved from an aisle to the middle seat in the last row of a 763 from LHR-EWR. Since I'm not on the flight, I can't do anything to make that better unless other seats open, right? Just be a hawk on that seatmap?

WineCountryUA

There is no published policy or standard practice that would permit an elite to have influence over the sitting of a non-status passenger on an unrelated flight.

Checking frequently for seats freeing up die to passenger travel plan changes (voluntary or involuntary / irrops) or upgrades (but those are likely to be E+ seats)

Are there not E+ seats open? Might be worth the fee.

LarrySinNJ

When I have to call United, I am always prompted if I want to complete a survey when the call is finished. Is there a way that I can default this to No, so I’m not
prompted each time I call?

ALGU

If someone who has no status books a ticket for me using their MileagePlus account, and I later decide to cancel my ticket, will I still get the reduced change fees as an Elite member or does it depend on the account of whoever booked the ticket?

findark

No, but you can press '2' immediately as the prompt begins and save most of the lost time.

You won't be charged fees - the account holder of the miles will be charged the fee to get the miles back. The fee will be based on the status of the account holder, not your status.

Kacee

Fees are based on the account the miles came from.

ALGU

@findark and @Kacee thank you! Would I be able to change/upgrade the partner award ticket to a higher cabin using my own miles and with the appropriate change fees? Or is only the account holder who has the ability? This is on LH so booked in Y but willing to move up if ever J/F becomes available again.

stormpelt

I need help. I had a trip scheduled for this summer, USA-europe, but it had 2 stops (paid with miles) (so a total of 3 legs). I just called United to check something about the flight, and I literally just found out over the phone that the last leg has been cancelled by the european airline!!! I have been on hold for the last half an hour, as the United rep is trying to figure out what to do about my flights. Is there any compensation? It was booked as a one-way itinerary (going from A-B, stop in C). I already booked an airbnb, and now the rep was telling me that she's gonna look to reschedule it for another day! That means if she books it earlier, more hotel/airbnb costs. AND WORST OF ALL, NO ONE EMAILED ME ABOUT THIS CANCELLATION. I HAD NO IDEA. I called about something completely different to United today, and I found out, surprise surprise, my last leg has been cancelled!!! Is there any sort of compensation?

fumje

Unfortunately, this can happen with partner flights. There's no statutory compensation.

Your best course now is to search the website for desirable options, especially ones with UA operated flights if possible, since they can make space available on those.