With low TATL pax loads, is it a better value to fly J, or economy with an empty row?
 

I have (had?) an award J flight from FRA to ORD coming up in a couple weeks, but United dropped that route it seems. I have to change my ticket anyway, and I see on the seat maps of my prospective replacement flights that the pax load is only maybe 5-10 in J, and maybe 20-30 in Y as of now, and I doubt things will be filling up much more. I can also change my departure to MUC if I want.

So, I'm internally debating if it's more worth it to cancel my J seat, refund the 70k miles and buy a 33k mile economy award seat where I will in all likelihood get a whole row to spread out or lie down, and save ~40k miles for future use, or still keep the J seat. It's a daytime flight, so I wouldn't be trying to sleep. But one option too is an LH operated 747-8 with a nearly empty upper deck, which would be quite nice. Wherever I could be around fewest other passengers would be preferable.

It's not an urgent situation, but just curious to hear some people's opinions and experiences based on the odd state of trans Atlantic flights now.

Lots of thoughts in this thread: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...s-polaris.html

But if you want a guarantee of fewer passengers, probably go with the LH flight in the upper deck.

If you have a specific plan for using 37k miles on another flight, then it may be worth switching to economy. You have to weigh those options yourself. But otherwise, I would stay in J, and definitely take LH.

Empty-row economy is relatively pleasant, but J is still better, and it's never a good idea to bank miles for the long term.

"Business Class ain't Business Class" right now. You redeem for J for the experience, and that experience ain't coming back in full force until the pandemic is over or nearly so. IF Coach is indeed empty, go for it, and save the remaining miles for another day. FRA-ORD is short, you'll live.

Miles devalue - availability comes and goes - I personally wouldn't assume the 40K in miles will be easily used in the future

In addition to comfort issues, I would take LH upper deck if at all possible, just to limit the number and proximity of fellow passengers.

LH’s A350 MUC-ORD is nice and features PE cabin. It is like you said with loads - we were the only 2 pax out of 21 PE seats on Mon this week. PE seats and service better on LH A350 than UA’s 787.

As nearly always, the answer is "it depends."

I redeem J for the comfort / hard product, even more so on long haul and/or overnight. The "experience" is rarely exceptional, my physical comfort is far more important anyway.

Part of my physical (psychological lol?!) comfort this year is lower pax density, so I'd chose J any day.

And, I still can't make up my mind! Still, I'm leaning toward grabbing the LH flight with the upper deck and staying in J, because for one it's that many fewer people to get exposed to, and two, I don't know how many more chances I'll have to fly in a 747 upper deck, which I've only done once before. It'll feel like a private jet up there if it stays practically empty.

I get at least 2 flights US to Europe every year, and shuffle credit card bonuses for the needed miles, so saving the 40k miles would help for sure too - assuming flying next year doesn't get even more restricted than this year has been. I like (dare I say need!) the J seat on the overnight outbound, while the way back in the daytime isn't as critical - a PE seat would be ok too, but it seems impossible to get them now just with miles. Last year home bound on Y I bought an E+ upgrade but United still included PE seats as E+ and got PE that way, and it was totally worth it.

Unrelated, I still can't figure out if I would have FRA lounge availability with a J seat (non-schengen lounge open?), but for the paltry lounge food offerings of late and the generally empty airports, it probably doesn't matter a ton either way.

LH has 2-2 config on the B747-800 Upper Deck with badly designed 'let your feet meet my feet' C-class seats (just Google for pictures). If you happen to have a neighbor, you may not feel comfortable. Polarised aircraft offer more privacy and distance.

westbound daytime flight I d do in empty coach - its not easy to sleep across 3 seats but there's plenty of space to stay comfortable otherwise, you are not gaining much in business

LH J > UA Y (if can guarantee you’ll in fact have the whole row) > UA J > UA Y (if full).

LH Y A380in a 4 across section would be my choice if I could guarantee the row to myself.

Agreed for sure. Though I don’t think LH A380s are on the table right now.