jsloan

1K members cannot use PlusPoints to upgrade an award ticket. GS members can.

However, I believe that the miles must also be from a GS member’s account.

And, many (most) of us don’t have any GS friends who are looking to sponsor upgrades.

lsquare

I had no idea! I just learned something new! Thanks, J!

Kmxu

Yes, PVG-US has saver economy availability in XN class after late September. You probably searched for X class or the other direction.

I purchased a ticket in XN and waitlisted for IN space for a friend. It was a success.

imackie

Ah, yes, I misread

kb1992

Currently I have booked 35K miles XN for PVG-SFO, waitlisted for PN.

Miles and PP can come from different GS accounts. 1K won't work.

My SFO-PVG upgrade using GS PP cleared last May. J class was selling for $18,000.

It's the best 35K miles I ever spent in my life.

boat stuck

For about a week last month, there were some dates in May 2023 with $1200 one-way SFO-PVG availability on UA857. I managed to grab one. Reasonable buy-up to Polaris offer ($1849) after booking. No X/XN though.

I didn't bite on the upgrade offer, since I think there's a pretty good chance China will have somewhat re-opened by next May, and if so, flights would have dropped in price, and I'll re-book in a higher cabin.

PsiFighter37

Upgrade cleared in the end, and go figure - UA didn’t even take the 80 PlusPoints I used to sponsor a person with no status to get on the upgrade list!

kb1992

UA only processes upgrades at the gate for 857/858 these days. When I checked in at PVG on Sept. 4, I asked if upgrade could be cleared. J was booked 12/60. The agent at check-in said he had never done this. So he gave it a try, and it was a success. Eventually all 25 people on the upgrade list cleared with lots of empty J seats.

hmmm be quiet.....

It seems that UA releases XN for 858 from time to time, but I can't find a single PZ/PN for next 11 months.


OTOH, 857 is brutal. Often it's $8K for Y, $12K for PE, and $18K for J.

For mileage redemption, here is the on going rate for 857.



It's just brutal for folks flying to China.

moondog

We can just fly to ICN for 10% of the 857 price.

What's the deal with airfare prices to China?

As I mentioned/suggested in the above thread, you'll need to buy a separate ticket from Korea to China ($500), and your flight might not be to your desired destination (in China), but the $7,500 saved should presumably provide you with the strength to justify the effort.

You currently need to spend 2-3 days in your gateway (to China) city in order to complete the pre-flight PCR tests. These are cheaper in Seoul than the SF Bay Area.

kb1992

Agreed. Connecting via ICN definitely saves huge amount of $$.

The challenge is to find an ICN-China ticket.

Then there is a risk if you don't get the green code from PRC Embassy in Seoul, then you get stuck there. Extra costs.

No, you don't need to spend 2-3 days in gateway to China e.g. SFO for 857.

You can do all PCR tests in NYC for example, then fly EWR-SFO-PVG directly, I think.

moondog

1. That's why I said you need to be flexible about "where in China". I'd pick a flight that operates at least 2x per week and costs around $500.
2. One of the China forum guys has been in touch with the PRC consulate/embassy in Seoul, and he tells us they are supportive of his plan.
3. I haven't researched this yet because I'm not planning on flying back here until next year, but I did get the feeling that any CVS or Walgreen's *might* be acceptable now (this is a big improvement from the previous selection of ~15 labs near Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Detroit, Dallas, and NYC that charged $450+ for a single test).
-If AA/DL/UA fares for the direct flights don't return to earth before year-end, I'll likely stop by Korea, Taiwan, or Macau, but there will likely be other good transit options by then (e.g. Thailand would be high on my list if it didn't cost $4,000 to fly from there to China)

Kmxu

I searched ICN-China for a friend. I only found ICN-PVG for about $500 one way for schedule until the end of the year. The schedule is only on Monday. Spring Airlines, a low-cost carrier, flies this route. So, there is not a lot of options for ICN-China. If this fight cancels for any reason, your stay at Seoul will be much longer.

moondog

Search Ctrip first; they seem to be more reliable than other Google, Expedia, Priceline, etc, and they show lots of options (e.g. Xiamen is not especially close to Shanghai, but they let you see it). Then, you can try buying through them, or the airline itself.

In spite of the painful seating, is kind of awesome.

But, again, I would not (in my wildest dreams) pay $4300 to fly 9C from BKK to PVG.

kb1992

I would keep an eye on UA 857.

Few months ago UA released $2200 fare SFO-PVG which lasted for a few days. I grabbed two for friends.

The nonstop to PVG is definitely better than going through ICN and risking getting stuck there with added costs.

You never know.

moondog

It's possible to buy ICN-China flights right now.


$2200 (for 857) is certainly an improvement over $9300, but the ICN connection is still cheaper, even if you stay in a decent hotel. For me, ICN is appealing because I can fly there nonstop from US cities other than San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Detroit, Dallas, or NYC.*

The only "nonstop" flight between the US and Shanghai is MU588 (it actually went to Fuzhou instead of Shanghai until last month, but the ticket price included FOC-SHA 8 days after arrival).

*ETA: Upon further thought, BOS and IAD are the only airports serving ICN, but not China (via ICN) that interest me. I'm going to be in both places during December/January.

I'm making a new post instead of editing the last post because the previous chatter is a little noisy (my fault, I know); I do think JAX-PVG for $2200 (I'm assuming UA doesn't tack on more for origins other than SFO) is reasonable...if they make it possible to pull off in a single day. For this to happen, 857 would need to depart at least 3 hours later (I'm not certain what the exact rules are pertaining to the t-minus 24-hour test, but I'm pretty sure that spending a single night near SFO would require getting a test there).