I've also been looking at FF tkts to SYD (but from ORD). ONE time, I saw a routing via Singapore that sounded interesting (albeit LONG) but did not jump on the chance, and have not seen it again! Right now I'm only seeing the UA options, and they are the non-stops from either LAX or SFO for my dates. My trip is not 100% a sure thing yet, so I've hesitated thus far. I'm a 1K with United so I do see more availability than the general member of the UA FF program.

if you can get Biz class for 67K do it. An upgrade will not be GUARANTEED, will involve a co pay, will not be that many less miles and goes by fare class and status.

If you want a partner award you might try air canada unless you want to fly to Auckland first and then Sydney...and it would likely be more miles.

given ho hard upgrades are for this route I'd book a Biz award if you want to guarantee a biz seat.

If you're just flying one way, then an upgrade would require an underlying coach ticket; my hunch is that you would be shocked to see the price of an upgrade-eligible one way ticket to Oz.

In any event, in my experience 67,500 miles for a one-way business class flight to Australia is very good value.

Don't expect to see too many business class award seats appear right when the booking window opens (although there might be a few.) Airlines release seats into award inventory on a rolling basis, based on the various black arts practiced by the denizens of their "yield management" departments (Hogwarts graduates all.)

It looks like UA's online award booking now includes partner airlines when available; e.g. I can see itineraries to Sydney that would involve both United and Air New Zealand.

I'm also pretty certain that with the current "one way only" bookings (i.e., all awards are for one direction; if you want a round trip it's just two one-way awards) connecting via a third region will mean two separate mileage amounts for one trip. For example connecting in Singapore would require a US > Singapore award, followed by a Singapore > Oz award, since Singapore is in the "South Asia" region. The total miles needed would therefore go up big time.

FWIW, I've just booked 2 O/W trips on United website:

Trip 1:

Corpus Christi to Houston (United economy)
Houston to Frankfurt (Lufthansa business)
Frankfurt to Bangalore (Lufthansa business)
60,000 ff miles
It's considered "mixed class" because the CC to Houston leg only has economy. This is for February, 2013.

Trip 2:

Colombo, Sri Lanka to Bangkok (Thai business)
Bangkok to Narita (Thai economy)
Narita to Houston (United first)
Houston to Corpus Christi (United economy)

60,000 ff miles. Also "mixed class".
This is for March 2, 2013

Total taxes and fees for 2 persons = $214.

Taxes and fees were $77 (Trip 1) + $214 (Trip 2)

I agree that getting a one-way saver award is the best way to go.

It would cost you 67,500 miles whether you fly on United or on a partner. It would be the same number of miles for a nonstop from SFO as it would be for a connecting flight.

Singapore and SYD are in different regions, but it would still be the same price in miles. The way it is priced in miles, at least in the old United rules, is that you pay the higher of the two regions.

(so SFO-SYD-SIN sh/would be priced at 67,500 miles because it is going via the higher priced Australia region but SFO-NRT-SIN would be 60,000 miles - this would be two regions but both the Japan and South Asia regions are the same price)

When you do your search, select one-way of course, but then select Search Specific Dates (not the flexible option - you can use the calendar to select dates). Don't trust the color coding 100% - definitely click on the date you want even if it is white (you want to see green, like on March 5, in the result below.

Go here to do a search:
http://www.united.com/web/en-US/apps/booking/flight/searchOW.aspx?CS=N

Enter SFO and SYD as From/To and then select the travel date as March 3, 2012. Scroll down and click Search.

RIGHT NOW, the results for March 3 show Saver awards available in all classes (the blue buttons) on the United nonstop. In the middle, under Business/Saver it shows the miles required (67,500) and taxes ($29.40) Notice on the right that flight time is 14 hr 37 min.

Below that nonstop option, under the banner "United Flights with stops" there are several United connecting options. They are listed in total travel time order 17 hr 20 min via the firest SFO-LAX-SYD option. All of the United-only options will be either SFO-SYD or SFO-LAX-SYD (maybe SFO-HOU-SYD, if that is possible).

Scroll down some more, and under the blue banner labeled "Partner Flights with stops". All parter flights will be there (no partner nonstops for SFO-SYD).

Scroll down past that banner to find the business class options on partners - Asiana via Seoul. Seoul is in North Asia region but see that the miles required is still 67,500 and it costs a few more dollars.

But, look to the right at the total travel times: 27 hr 25 min is the shortest connection available on partner airlines.

I've searched LAX-SYD and seen results with connections in Vancouver on AC, the Thai nonstop to Bangkok and connect there to SYD, and the Asiana connections. Haven't seen Auckland yet.

Geez. That post reflects the amount of time that I have spent searching on the Continental (now United) website over the past year.

My short answer is that it will cost you the 67,500 miles whether you use United or a partner. United, thoough, has the only *A carrier with nonstops and that is what you really want. But you might find reasonable connections at LAX or Vancouver, instead of Asia.

Search by specific dates, but be flexible on your date is best. Use the calendar to choose date(s) that are acceptable, but don't assume that the color coding on the calendar is 100% accurate.

I wasn't able to actually post the search result for March 5. But it is March 3 that is green and has the several United options. March 5 is yellow and has less availability. The color codes look accurate.

I would choose the first class option at only 12,500 more miles, if that was available.

On connecting flights, watch out for the "Mixed Cabin" alert. This would be on connecting flights, of course. If you select one of those Mixed Cabin! results, then make sure it is the class you want on the long-haul segment (the class of service on each segment is shown after you Select a flight).

Thank you, thank you for your very valuable input for using UA FF miles. I think I've learned what I need to know to get the flight we want if it's available. We'll be flying one way business class the last week of March, 2013 and cruising back from Sydney. We can be a little flexible with dates, and hope to get out of SFO on 24 or 25 March, 2013 Thanks to you, I'm no longer considering the option of upgrading as the base ticket would be over $1K, and with no status (but lots of FF miles) we wouldn't be likely to be upgraded. We'd like to do the frequently offered non-stop UA flight from SFO to SYD for 67.5K miles. If we have to, we will consider flying through LAX, but not through Asia because the duration of the trip is so long.

I've been watching the FF inventory daily for March, 2013 as it comes onto the UA website. The 67.5K-mile award is usually there, excepting some weekends; it may not appear the first day of FF availability, but in shows up a few days later for the previous couple of days.

I have two other additional questions: 1) mrwunrfl above suggests springing for the extra 12.5K option to fly first class instead of business if offered. Aside from the differences highlighted on the UA site, what is the most important difference between the two classes? As I understand it all the UA 747s have flat beds in busines, which is really important to us, as the plane leaves SFO about 10:30 pm. We've flown either business or first class to Europe a couple of times. 2) Is seatguru.com the most reliable site to check for the best seats? Are there other sites you'd recommend? We're hoping to fly in the "bubble" of the 747. Haven't done that since we went with TWA to Europe eons and eons ago.

Thanks again for your kind and very helpful replies.

If you want to fly in the upstairs cabin then choose business class. In case you didn't notice: scroll down on the seatguru seat map, past economy, to see the upper deck map.

seatguru shows two pairs of seats in the middle in first class. They are colored yellow, but there is no explanation what the drawbacks are to those seats. I haven't flown in the new United international first class.

My comment on flying in first class was based on me traveling solo, as I usually do. And I was thinking about my F trip on Asiana (10 F seats vs 12 on United, is one difference).

In business class, you would have plenty of options for sitting together and having a window. And you would save the 12,500 x 2 miles.

I've been watching the inventory for your trip, too. It does appear that, at least for SFO/LAX (where I am) -SYD, it is a very good idea to start looking 330-325 days out.

From the comments on Flyertalk, there is no horrible seat upstairs, and it's much prefered over downstairs. Biggest question is whether to face forward or back. Some like facing backwards with the view of the wings and engines. I was researching this as my mom just got cleared on a mileage upgrade for SFO-HKG later this month. This will be her first time upstairs on a 747.

Thanks again, mrwunrufl. Appreciate your following our itinerary. Please let me know of any strategies I may have overlooked. Just checked the UA site. It's currently showing one business class FF saver award SF through Asia to SYD on April 8 an 9, 2013. But saver awards for business class on April 4, 5, 6, 7 at 67.5K on the non-stop have popped into the inventory, so I'm holding my breath that the pattern continues.

rkkwan, we'll choose to fly facing forward, if at all possible. I get a little disoriented just thinking about flying backward.

I figured upstairs would be preferable, mostly because there are fewer passengers up there with less movement in the cabin.

I've flown in the backward facing seats a number of times now. It was a little weird at take-off the first time, as I was looking right out at the wing (that was on a 767). Once in the air, I usually forget I'm facing backward--I notice no difference.

Definitely pick a seat upstairs if you can. In addition to fewer passengers, .. there's no floor storage in the business class seats during take-off and landing, but the window seats have some small storage cabinets so you don't have to put everything up.

I agree with flying in the upper deck, First class is great also, but the upper deck is nice and quiet.

I'm looking at the following trip for this July (about 2 weeks... that's all I can muster) and will make two stops on a 3-leg (3 one way tickets) journey in 1st class.

UA...ORD-HKG and then TG onto Bangkok (spend 5-6 days) and then TG from BKK to SYD (spend 5-6 days) and then UA back to ORD from SYD. All in first class. All on saver awards. Total cost is 210k miles and $147.50. Pretty tough to beat!!

I'm not quite ready to book it yet, but being a 1K on UA I can see saver inventory that general frequent fliers do not see. I can afford to wait a bit.

One thing I really like about flying first class is access to the international first class lounges along the way. A biz ticket will get you into the regular star alliance lounges; but there's something special about visiting the 1st class lounges instead...

Thanks for your comments about business vs. first, simpsonc510. Are you able to check, via your status ability, to see inventory for the itinerary I'm waiting to book? We have no status at all. It's SFO to SYD on the one daily non-stop flight, two pax traveling March 24, 25, or 26 2013. From time to time (as I explained above), UA is showing 67.5K miles in business. amd that's the one I'm hoping for. Thank you for checking!

I am not able to 'click' on any date past March 7 right now. I am not up on how many days out you can book award travel. Maybe March 7 is as far out as it goes today???

That's interesting, simpsonc510, as a plain 'ole no-statis flyer, I can see the inventory through March 10.

status, not statis

I thought the additional award availability for 1K (and now Platinum) only applied to domestic awards.

I think Betsy meant March, not April. On the non-stop, all cabins are available March 5-8, but only standard F awards for March 9-10.

March 8 is yellow, meaning economy saver awards, which is true, but saver biz and F seats are also available. I would wager that March 8 will turn green tomorrow.

Yes, it is a good trend. Hope it continues for you.

Betsy definitely meant March. Seems like I was probably holding my breath too long! I'm watching those little splotches turn green as the days go by. Thank you again for your effort to educate me on the process and your support in doing so.

Happy Easter, Passover, or any other event you may be celebrating.

It doesn't look like the trend is continuing. I just checked March 10-17 and didn't see any business class saver awards on the UA nonstop. A few dates had 1 first class saver award available. But availability for those dates may change.

If you end up having to take the long-long-haul via Seoul on Asiana then you would want to look for flights with their new Quadra Smartium seats in business class. There is saver award availability for two.

Here is a December 2010 flyertalk post:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/asiana-club/1164955-quadra-smartium-business-lie-flat-routes-consolidated.html

There is biz availability on several dates on Asiana (don't know if they have the QS seats), so you don't have to jump on those if the UA nonstops are not immediately available on the date(s) you want. I also saw an Air Canada connection via Vancouver that was available on one day of that week.

Sigh...you're correct, mrwunrufl. Availability on the non-stop in business class for 67.5K has, unfortunately, evaporated. I've been checking every day and will need to think about booking soon. Hoping the offers will be more generous next week. Air Canada through Vancouver is available in the inventory for economy for March 21. Twenty-seven hour trip with a 7+ hour layover in Vancouver vs 14+ hours with no layover (obviously) for the nonstop. We may bite the bullet and book a first class award. We're also looking at Qantas using AA FF miles, but AA partner flights are not available to peruse on line.

However, we did score four free nights at the Sydney Park Hyatt using an award available by getting the Hyatt Visa. Super deal. DH and I both got the card and we each got two free nights after first purchase.

We may bite the bullet and book a first class award. We're also looking at Qantas using AA FF miles, but AA partner flights are not available to peruse on line.

Au contraire, mates, they're fully viewable online if you join Qantas' FF program, then look for mileage seats through Qantas' own site. I've never encountered a case where flights shown as available to Qantas FFers weren't available for AA mileage redemption.

There are two problems with using AA miles on Qantas. First is that Qantas opens the redemption window for its own members a month before AA does for its, so AA early birds get few worms.

The second is that getting premium cabin seats on Qantas nonstops across the Pacific is notoriously tough, whether you're a QFF member, Aadvantage member, or any other partner FFP member. Just tough. That's NOT to say they're nonexistent - there are numerous victory stories out there, but they're far from the easiest tickets to score. Perservere.

Brilliant, Gardyloo! We're already Qantas FF members. I have an appointment in a few minutes but will be all over that website a little later today. Thank you SO much!

I checked the Qantas site for availability and found the only flights offered connected in Asia and, on most flights, the longer legs would have been in economy, so I abandoned that strategy (this early bird definitely found no worms) and continued to check UA daily for availability in business class for 67.5K each. I was discouraged because nothing had shown for many, many days. Checked first thing yesterday morning (PDT) and voila! the perfect award had popped in--67.5K miles each on the nonstop from SFO to SYD on the date we wanted. Booked it quickly and rejoiced the rest of the day. I'm still looking for first class on the same flight for 80K each, but if it doesn't become available, I'll still be a happy camper.

One further question: When I was going through the booking process, I was offered the chance to book seats. I chose the seats we wanted in the bubble, but when I completed the reservation, the seat assignments disappeared with the message that we would receive seats at the airport or when we check in. Is there any way we can be assigned seats now rather than having to wait?

Thanks so much to all of you who so generously shared your knowledge about how to maneuver through this process. With a little experience, I found the UA website very easy to navigate. Your input was priceless.

I found out (the hard way) that my seat selections didn't 'take' until I pressed "continue" at the bottom of the page. You might try that. Go back into your booking and see if you can try to select your seats. Good luck!

Congrats on getting your seats!

I brought up our booking, and there are no seats on the reservation. Tried to put them in with no luck. Will phone UA tonight when the wait time should be less. One time during the booking process when I phoned, I was lucky enough to get Lisa, who explained she works the Premier desk (we're not Premier). She was knowledgeable and gracious. Hoping she picks up my call tonight.

Aaak! Not only did I not get Lisa when I phoned, I spoke to an agent who kept repeating, as if reading from a script, the information that we can only get seat assignments when we check in (24 hours in advance of the flight?) or at the airport. When I went through the online booking process, I did put in the seats we want--the website allowed that--but when I continued (yes, I pressed "continue") the request did not show up on the purchase summary. Subsequent attempts to add the seats to the reservation on line have not been successful.

Oh you wise UA FFers, is there any way we can possibly get seat assignments added to our reservation before 24 hours prior to the flight? Why would the website show seats during bookng and allow me to put them into the reservation, apparently successfully, then not honor the request?

Betsy, have you been able to get a seat assignment yet? Just curious....

Not yet, Jane. I've talked with two reps who continued to tell me I can get seats at the airport. I have worked out a strategy for my next phone call. Will update you, so stay tuned.

Would love to have information from a UA FFer about someone at UA I could contact to ask the same question that I posed in the second paragraph of my April 25 post at 9:51. Phone reps have no clue.

We have seats! I went back to the reservation and to the "view or change your seat" option. Put in our request (again) and voila! The seat fairy granted my wish. We're in the bubble of the 747 in seats approved by seatguru.com. Have no idea why the request wasn't granted originally nor why it was granted five days later. So if anyone else runs into the inability to choose seats, give it a few days and try again.

Great! Now all you have to do is go back into your account every month or two and check to see if you still have the same seat assignments.

Will do, mrw. Probably weekly.

Whoo-hoo! Found a Saver Award today for first class and changed our reservation. 80K FF miles each for first instead of 67.5K for business (plus 11 cents each additional for taxes). Immediate seat assignments this time. It's great to be actually looking forward to a flight on this trip instead of merely enduring it. You are great teachers; as a result, I learned to navigate the UA website and optimize our arangements. Fodorites rock!

Great, Betsy. I've been wondering how you got along with this booking.

I just now booked my own frequent flier ticket for July, in first class (all saver) that goes from ORD-BKK (via HKG) and then BKK-SYD, and finally SYD-ORD (via SFO). I booked it as 3 one-way tickets. The total cost is 210,000 miles and $147.60. That's a long trip for two weeks, but in first class it's much more pleasant! I'm flying TG from BKK-SYD on the night flight. I've got 3---30th birthday parties to attend. The first one is in BKK and then the other two are a husband/wife couple from SYD, both with birthdays over the same weekend, so a big celebration for both of them at once.

I'm glad you got the tickets you were wanting. Enjoy!!!

Carol

Carol, that trip should only cost you 160,000 as a single ticket. It is an ORD-SYD roundtrip with a stopover in BKK.

I verified this by doing a search for travel next March (March 5,9, and 16 travel days). It found your UA 881, TG 475 for SYD-BKK, and then UA for SYD-SFO-ORD - all of it in first class.

I used the multi-destination search and can get the ticket for 160,000 miles and $166.70.

Maybe if you call United they will change this, but I doubt it. I suggest going back and doing another search, this time multi-destination, and see if it is available. As a 1K there would be no redeposit or change fee.

I just did some searching for July 10-17-24.

If I do a search for ORD-BKK on the 10th + BKK-SYD on the 17th, then I get UA ORD-HKG, TG HKG-BKK, and TG BKK-SYD. And then a one-way search for SYD-ORD and got UA via SFO. All in F. Cost is 210,000 miles

Same results if I search ORD-BKK + SYD-ORD and then one-way for BKK-SYD, I get the same results.

That is, if I put legs 1 and 2 on one ticket and leg 3 on another ticket, OR legs 1 and 3 on one ticket and leg 2 on another, then I can find saver F awards on those dates.

But if I do a multi-destination trip for all three legs then for the first leg I only see one option for ORD-BKK and it is a standard award for that leg at least.

I guess the trick for a multi-destination trip, if you don't find availability like I did for the March dates, is to search each leg separately and then call to see if the agent can put it together on one, cheaper, ticket.

Mrwunfl, I didn't know that United allowed stopovers! Thanks for that information.

I also didn't realize the stopover! I'll give them a call and see what I can do. Thanks heaps, mrwunrfl... you may have saved me some miles and money.

Success!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah.....

Oh yeah.

JaneB, MP has always allowed an enroute stopover (a connection greater than 24 hours) on regular roundtrip awards. I learned last night that, for a year now, MP allows a stopover on an open-jaw roundrip (old United MP allowed one stopover OR an open-jaw).

You can also make an up-to 23 hour 59 minute connection and it doesn't count as a stopover. So, for example, you could fly ORD-NRT arriving at 3:55 PM and the next day fly NRT-PEK at 3:15 PM and it is not a stopover.

There are "region rules" for stopovers. I am not clear on the rules.

The regions are listed on the award table (row or column titles) here: http://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/news/United_Award_Chart_2012-03-03.pdf

Japan is a region. I once flew IAD-PEK with a stopover in Tokyo. Beijing is in the North Asia region, so the stop in Tokyo was allowed.

When the origin, destination, and stopover are in different regions (like Carol's trip: U.S. Mainland, South Asia, Australia regions) then the stopover is allowed.

One time, I wanted to book an award trip, NRT-ICN-NRT with a stopover at TOY but it was not allowed. ICN (Seoul) is in North Asia region, but TOY (Toyama, Japan) is in the same region as NRT.

But, somehow/sometimes a stopover is allowed when the ticket involves only two regions. I once called to find out that yes, I could make a stopover at enroute to Hawaii. My origin (IAD) and stopover (LAX or SFO) were both Mainland U.S. region with Hawaii being a different region.

Carol's trip probably would not have been bookable as a roundtrip with stopover under the pre-merger MileagePlus because of the maximum permitted mileage (MPM) rule(s). I once was able to book LAX-IAD-EZE (7505 miles) on an award but was refused for LAX-YYZ-SCL (7508 miles) because it exceeeded the MPM. Those days are gone, apparently.

When the stopover and destination regions have different mileage requirements, then you pay for the higher of the two. In first class, saver, U.S. to South Asia is 140K roundtrip. U.S. to Australia is 160K round trip. So, Carol pays the 160K for a Sydney destination with BKK being the stopover.

Thanks again for the info that saved me $ and FF miles!! I'm going to remember this rule in the future.

Carol, so how did it go when you called?

Were there additional seats available for the trip and they booked a second ticket & refunded the first? Or did they just combine the one-ways and, if so, did that do that naturally, as a matter of course, or did they make an exception for you, or what?

Bill, I think what she did was to re-book the entire trip. She started off by refunding my $ and replacing miles. Does that sound like a complete now re-booking?

Kuranosuke emailed me and asked about my one-stopover round trip. He asked if he could make TWO stops on a R.T. to Asia (NRT and HKG). Do you know what the rules are for that? I suggested he call an agent.

Sorry my reply is about a week late... I've been busy getting ready to fly to ZRH tomorrow, and calling UA trying to get my DH upgraded so we could sit together in the upper deck. His upgrade FINALLY cleared today... 26 1/2 hours before the flt.

Yes, that does sound like a re-ticketing. When she refunded your ticket the award seats you had didn't necessarily become available again. Guessing that there were additional seats already available for your flights and she snagged them before she did the refund.

For Ken: he can make one stopover and two open jaws. If he is just going HNL-NRT-HKG-HNL then it is a simple roundtrip to HKG with a stopover at NRT. I will try e-mailing him.

Last week I booked an award trip LAX-NRT-HKT returning from DEL with a stop in Qatar, to SNA. Am pretty sure that the LAX departure and SNA return makes for an open jaw. I filled in the first open-jaw with a one-way business class award ticket for HKT-DEL. First class for LAX-NRT-BKK and then business class for BKK-HKT-BKK-DEL-DOH-IAH and F for IAH-SNA. Cost: 170,000 miles and about $200 for an around the world trip. Plus a $225 roundtrip between Qatar and Dubai. One night at NRT, 4 in Phuket, 9 in India, and 4 nts in Dubai.