MrCUBS

Hello all,

I am looking for an award travel on J for 2 to either Spain or Portugal for 5-7 nights in October/November. Is there a good way/tactic to look for business saver award besides the calendar option (not very reliable). It doesn't have to be round trip from the same city in EU. Any advice will be greatly appreciated

Thanks

bmr12

DA201

10/21: LAX-FRA-MAD or LAX-MUC-MAD (both Lufthansa) 70k miles and reasonable layover times
10/28: LIS-HAM-LHR-LAX (TAP/Eurowings/Air New Zealand) or LIS-LGW/LHR-LAX (TAP/Air New Zealand) 70k miles and reasonable layover times

Obsidian

you could try using expert flyer but there is a cost to that service. Worth it for some folks depending on how much booking you do and how advance you want to get

MrCUBS

PsiFighter37

tods27

Given that UA uses married-segment logic, if you find LAX or SFO space to/from Spain/Portugal, you can then try searching those specific days to see if you can get the entire connection on one ticket. If you can't, then you need to decide if you want to buy a positioning flight or not. LAX may not need one, given that you list your location as SAN. You could also try to call and see if an agent will try to piece this together for you, but that isn't highly likely to be successful. If you are having trouble finding the return legs on a round-trip, consider booking two one-ways. The search function on UA.com limits the number of results and when you are doing a search for two end-points that have a lot of potential routings, the system seems to crap out on the return legs. Also, remember that Mon-Wed are often the best days, if you have flexibility.

Personally, I start my search with what I want, then try other gateways to look for space. You'll likely find saver awards that are "mixed cabin" where the domestic UA legs are in Y.

You are correct that the 30 day calendar isn't the most reliable (it tends to only show the UA options). I find that I start with a date, then use the 7 day calendar to increment the date and sort on the "Business Saver Award" column. UA usually sorts the partner awards at the end of the list.

seanp7

I'd also recommend aiming for LH LAX-FRA/MUC-XXX at 70k if you can find dates with them available.

Then check frequently within T-14 (and T-3/2/1) for 110K LH F awards and change your ticket for free (1K). LH often only release 1 F seat at a time, but it can occur right up to the departure time (i.e. incl. same day). LAX-FRA/MUC is a great flight length for LH F.

threeoh

(1) definitely search one-way, not r/t. If you need the ticket to be r/t you can call to book once you've found your flights

(2) Whenever I'm looking for award tickets to anywhere in Europe it's always offering me TAP and LOT...but it really all depends on the dates!

MrCUBS

Thanks for the advice, so far I have been able to find SAN-DEN-FRA-MAD (SAN-DEN on Y) and return OPO-BRU-IAD-SAN (same IAD-SAN on Y). But did it as o/w so will continue to look and change if I ind anything different.
Thanks again for the advice

tods27

If you're in I for the TATL legs, don't forget to call and waitlist the SAN-DEN and IAD-SAN legs for I space.

MrCUBS

Thanks, already did and waitlisted on both legs for IN

rflor

nwflyboy

That says a lot!