SPN Lifer

On such flights one cannot get a complimentary Premier upgrade (CPU), but one can use a mileage upgrade award (MUA) or, for those who have them, Plus Points (PP) -- not to be confused with Premium Plus (premium economy) seating and fare categories.

The latter PP upgrade instruments are issued to Premier Platinum, Premier 1K, and Global Services members, and may be applied to family & friends, etc.

sowhatwegetdrunk

Thanks. Thoughts on SFO-SIN route if UA will ever open the business seats on saver or for partners close to departure?

jsloan

It's not impossible, but it's unlikely. SOP would be to clear the upgrade list first, so you'd need there to be leftover seats after that happened.

Keep in mind, nearly every traveler with PlusPoints will have some applied to this flight -- it's not like there's a longer one that they could hold out for I'd have to imagine that partner award space on this route is exceedingly rare.

Kacee

What partners? And note that UA doesn't open partner space - the partners do.

Agree with jsloan on UA operated. The flight is almost always filled with paid J and upgrades. No need to open I inventory.

If you want to use miles to fly J SFO-SIN nonstop you'll probably have to either pay UA's price for JN or use KF or AS miles for SQ.

mahasamatman

And even F for routes that have it.

sowhatwegetdrunk

Lifemiles. But yeah, I think its almost impossible to get a business award (saver) seat on SFO-SIN

AAJetMan

Hello UA Experts.!!...Can y'all please advise me?
I am planning a 360k-mile redemption for Business Class RT UA travel SHV-IAH-SFO-SIN-MNL approx March / April 2023.

1. If I reserve but want to, say, extend my connection time in SIN by several hours, will United be able to help me with that over the phone? I suspect it can't be done online especially since the flight I'm seeking is not included in the options when I search the award itineraries.

2. Is there a cheaper award redemption that I'm not seeing (other than the 99K I'm seeing that uses EVA and also includes economy travel)?
3. For how long can I reserve a mileage award without having to ticket?

4. Any general tips for maximizing the enjoyment? (My hobby is walking and hanging out in large airports for many hours, as well as flying in sleeper seats)
5, Seems from above threads that SQ SFO/SIN is not an option, sadly, as my miles are with UA. Please advise if indeed there ARE options for SQ SFO/SIN.

6. I've flown first long haul in CX, AA, SQ, OZ, EK and EY...should I be lowering my expectations considerably??
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!!!

OP...If I've mis-posted this as a "Reply" rather than "New Thread" I apologize...could not find the "New Thread" button.

jsloan

Only if there is award availability on the flight that you want -- and making any change to an award may require there to be available on all other partner legs.

Maybe; search regularly. Also, try searching SHV-IAH separately using multi-city search; it'll charge you extra for that segment, but it may result in cheaper awards downstream. IAH-TPE-MNL would be a great choice.

You cannot.

SIN is a fantastic airport. Take a look at the Excursionist Perk, also, which could give you a stopover in SIN in one direction or the other. (That said, SIN is way out of the way going to MNL, so I'd try to go though Tokyo or Taipei in the other direction).

It's extremely rare for SQ to open J space to UA. It does sometimes happen. UA's J seats are much, much more comfortable, IMO, than SQ's J seats on that route.

No -- you should abandon your plan and find something else -- EK through Dubai or something. UA J is only comparable to F in statements that begin with "Unlike (OAL) F, UA J is..."

if you even have to ask this question, you are probably focused on the things where UA shines the least.

I believe ANA is running F again -- not to MNL, though -- and that might be an option for you.

DCBound2016

Hi all, I have two noob questions so thank you in advance!

1) I have a a three flight segment tomorrow: Air Moldova to Prague, then British Airways to LHR, and then United from LHR to the states. This is on a United ticket. Will I have to reclaim my suitcase in Prague and LHR and check them in again, or will it be automatically handled?

2) I was able to use 10k to get a confirmed upgrade to premium plus. I noticed that there’s 30 open biz seats but the customer service rep said I could only have one confirmed upgrade. So I know for next time, if it’s that many seats, could my biz upgrade request be confirmed quickly or would it have been closer to the departure time?

thanks so much!

WineCountryUA

Only offered if any all UA itin, then you may be offered an FareLock option (for a fee) for x days, I have seen 7 days.
Partner flights do not qualify

ZenFlyer

Fwiw, I recently did this and was offered a choice of 3, 7, or 14 days with a corresponding increase in charge. I note that I had trouble finalizing my FareLock purchase on the web, and had to call an agent. She also initially had trouble and had to consult with IT but was eventually able to do it over the phone for me (online booking fee waived). I think thay happened just prior to the major IT upgrade of a few weeks ago, so who knows if that particular bug was fixed or exacerbated . . .

WineCountryUA

All on a single UA ticket?? Very odd as Air Moldova/9U does not appear to have an interline ticketing or baggage agreement with UA or BA.
If if on a single ticket, then you should be able to checkthru your bags but it will be up to 9U. UA is not involved.

For miles it would be very unusual -- for cash, if offered, yes. You are still eligible for a cash offer, check in LHR.

If you provide the date and flight number, someone can look up the situation.

AAJetMan

jsloan...GREAT insights!! Thank you. I will perform some due diligence on trying to book EK and ANA with United miles. Any direction on that is appreaciated.

jsloan

EK can't (currently) be booked with UA miles; I should have been more clear. Sorry about that. LH F can, but it's going to be hard to construct an SHV-MNL award on LH. However, there is a real chance that EK awards will become available on UA by the time you're flying. They started a limited partnership but there are rumors of an intent to allow cross-redemption.

NH is available with UA miles and does occasionally offer F inventory (for less than you're budgeting for UA non-saver J).

ZenFlyer

If there is a hall of fame for FT quotes, I hereby nominate this one . . .