hungarianhc

Hi all,

I know that as a 1K, i can make changes to award itineraries for free, but I'll soon be constructing a rather complex itinerary, and I expect that not all the availability I want will be there initially, and it's for two passengers.

I want to book an open-jaw w/ a stopover.

So could I book the first one-way legs out there, the day that they become available?

Book the returns as one-ways, the day that they become available?

Let's say I find a single seat in F on an alternative route? Can I book that too?

And then basically I end up w/ a bunch of itineraries, and eventually I'll cancel all of them except for the one I want, and then i'll get an agent to take the pieces of that one and stick them together so that it will be an open-jaw w/ a stopover - does that make sense?

For example, there are some routes that are hard to get F inventory... I want to watch them, and snag any seat that becomes available, and wait and hope for a second to pop up. Thanks!

Palal

I recall this question was asked in the past few days and if I recall correctly, the answer is no, you can't merge itineraries. If you want to book a dummy return, feel free to do that and then cancel it.

lax2010

If all the final pieces are on UA metal, you may be able to merge them if you are lucky to find a good agent. If there is any *A involved then forget it.

hungarianhc

Hmmm so the only way to book an open jaw w/ a stopover would be to have that availability exist at time of booking then. Makes things tough.

I suppose I could book a dummy return and modify that later, but it does get complicated when you're booking for two passengers. If the gf and I booked a multi-city itinerary, but then a single F seat popped up on another route, we couldn't "modify" our itinerary to include that F seat since we'd be on different flights... complicated stuff... bummer. Seems like the failsafe way to do it is just to book everything as 1-way awards, but that leaves out the possibility of a stopover to get a bit more bang for the buck.

SAN 1K

You are discussing getting seats "the day that they come available".
I've always planned vacations 1 year out and benefitted from snagging award seats at 330 days. There have always been at least 2 seats on any flight I wanted so, at worst, I would split my family into 2 pairs and we'd be able to get seats.
However starting to plan and book seats for next summer, I have searched many flights (and even routes) for which not a single saver award has been released at the 330 day mark.
Perhaps another change we're going to like..?..
Back to your question, no, they won't combine award tickets/legs together. You'd need to book this as 3 one-way tickets, then at that point you can waitlist all you want (on United metal, of course) to get better flights.

hungarianhc

Yeah I'm in the same boat. I've been searching as far out as I possibly can for the past month, trying to see what award availability for my routes looks like. The good news is that it looks like getting there in business class won't be a problem for the two of us, but I'd really like two seats in F the whole way - and there isn't much award availability at the 330 day mark for two people in F.
Where I'm going UA metal doesn't fly! But rather than waitlist, I have enough miles to keep snatching up random one-way F awards as they become available, and then i'll just cancel when I need to. The unfortunate thing is that I won't be able to get a stopover!

smfnrt

I booked an award for girlfriend last month SYD-BKK-NRT on Thai, at the time of booking SYD-BKK had Biz and BKK-NRT had only Economy. few days before departure the BKK-NRT Biz class opened up.
I called 1K desk and they changed it WITHOUT changing the reservation number - I'm guessing it is because the mileage requirements did not change.
YMMV

mduell

This is where I think you'll run into problems; definitely with partners, and possibly even on UA metal. The agents will have to release the inventory from one PNR and hope IM releases it again.

That sounds much simpler than what the OP is trying to do. There's no waitlisting on *A tickets, but you can change cabins or even flights or even routing when you find space.

Palal

You can change routing and add/remove segments to a single itinerary as you wish, but you can't merge/split itineraries.

OP -- why not book two RT itineraries -- one for yourself, one for your girlfriend. Do a dummy return booking. The routing can be different, cabin doesn't have to be the same just put something in there for the sake of having a round-trip award. When you find what you want, call in and change each of the itineraries until you get what you want. (I'm assuming you're a 1K).

dsquared37

You're a 1K and therefor can amend, change, completely alter an itin after booking. Why do you think you'd be restricted to creating an OJ or SO only at original booking?

Book whatever you need to complete a r/t award itin and modify once your desired routings are there.

I think you can split an itin if it's all UA (NB I am not stating this correct, just a belief).

This is what i do at times. For my girl, not the OP's.

Palal

That's my understanding too, but the OP needs *A partners from what I understand.