Is January, February, March peak season for USA-India travel? Lack of UA saver awards
Sep 17, 23, 3:15 pm
#1
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Join Date: Sep 2009
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Is January, February, March peak season for USA-India travel? Lack of UA saver awards
Hello Seniors, Is January, February, March peak season for international travel to Delhi, India? I have United miles but not finding mile saver ticket for business class and even the ones I see are mixed with Economy. I thought after holiday season it would not be peak season in February but confused now.
Sep 17, 23, 3:26 pm
#2
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UA is operating reduced flights to India right now and demand doesn't warrant much in the way of saver awards being made available. By "mixed", do mean the domestic potion? If so, that's often the case on those types of awards.
Sep 17, 23, 3:48 pm
#3
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India is relatively high demand year-round these days because of limited capacity, but I would not expect demand to drop in Q1. And that's after a second EWR-DEL gets added for the Winter season (though the total capacity remains down with no Russia overflight available.
Sep 17, 23, 4:35 pm
#4
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Saver awards to India have always been extremely difficult to get. Now, with reduced capacity they are essentially non-existent ... other than close-in bookings where you will be able to snag them from time to time.
Paid fares to India can be quite low - there have been $2.5k fares on ST recently ... much better value than trying to burn miles.
Paid fares to India can be quite low - there have been $2.5k fares on ST recently ... much better value than trying to burn miles.
Sep 17, 23, 6:27 pm
#5
Join Date: Apr 2014
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For travel to India I had decent luck in June (a typically high demand time to travel) booking within 1.5 months -- I managed to score a BLR-BKK-TPE-SFO in TG/BR J for 93.5k UA miles. (My outbound was on oneworld, SFO-LAX-DOH-BLR in AS/QR J for 85k AS miles, also booked within 21 days of travel).
Sep 17, 23, 6:30 pm
#6
Join Date: Dec 2002
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Saver awards to India have always been extremely difficult to get. Now, with reduced capacity they are essentially non-existent ... other than close-in bookings where you will be able to snag them from time to time.
Paid fares to India can be quite low - there have been $2.5k fares on ST recently ... much better value than trying to burn miles.
Paid fares to India can be quite low - there have been $2.5k fares on ST recently ... much better value than trying to burn miles.
Sep 17, 23, 6:38 pm
#8
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ST is not an airline; it is an alliance, SkyTeam (Delta, Air France, KLM, Korean, and many others):
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyTeam
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyTeam
Sep 17, 23, 7:22 pm
#9
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Sep 17, 23, 8:09 pm
#10
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We know go in the summer and fares have been pretty exhorbinant the last couple of years...just not enough flights since there is no Russia overflights.
The last couple of years, we've resorted to booking to SIN, then separately to India. This past summer, we paid about $1800 to SIN (in Y). Year before, it was $1500, but UA wanted 2K...we went via YVR-NRT on AC, which was not pleasant from a time perspective, (though I won't say we didn't take advantage of the opportunity to pick up lots of snacks in NRT). We go SFO-South India, so not as many options there (and no, we will not fly AI!).
Hopefully, UA will eventually start SFO-BLR, as we'd probably go that way most of the time, but I'm not expecting it anytime soon. Could be worse though...I won't say we don't take advantage of a day or two in SIN each way.
The last couple of years, we've resorted to booking to SIN, then separately to India. This past summer, we paid about $1800 to SIN (in Y). Year before, it was $1500, but UA wanted 2K...we went via YVR-NRT on AC, which was not pleasant from a time perspective, (though I won't say we didn't take advantage of the opportunity to pick up lots of snacks in NRT). We go SFO-South India, so not as many options there (and no, we will not fly AI!).
Hopefully, UA will eventually start SFO-BLR, as we'd probably go that way most of the time, but I'm not expecting it anytime soon. Could be worse though...I won't say we don't take advantage of a day or two in SIN each way.
Sep 17, 23, 9:16 pm
#12
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here is a recent one: SkyTeam: BOS-BLR biz from $2876 RT
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Sep 17, 23 at 11:39 pm Reason: less snark please
Sep 17, 23, 11:41 pm
#13
Join Date: Dec 2004
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you would definitely be surprised, there have been multiple sub-$3k fares this year
here is a recent one: SkyTeam: BOS-BLR biz from $2876 RT
here is a recent one: SkyTeam: BOS-BLR biz from $2876 RT
Still, this looks like a good sign for fares to drop from their current ridiculous levels. I know someone who paid $2.5K in economy EWR-CCU (peak period, late Dec to Jan).
Sep 18, 23, 12:02 pm
#14
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LH has some decent fares ex-BOS at about $3.3 via IAP ($3.5 without) that are all-in fares.
Sep 18, 23, 12:22 pm
#15
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If the OP wants to utilize miles to get to India -- especially in Business Class -- he really needs to diversify his stash of miles. AA has some dates in early 2024 with Business Class on AY for JFK-HEL-DEL for just 70,000 AA miles plus minimal fees.
