harvmatic

I have been monitoring available seats for award travel on United in July and they are very few and far between, at the moment.
If I wait a little longer, is there a better chance of some more seats/dates becoming available, or are they liable to be even scarcer ?
Are there certain days of the week when new available seats are offered ?
All help is appreciated.

RoamsAround

The short answer is - You never know when or even if the airline will make more award seats available for any given flight. You just have to keep checking.

NoFlyZone

It also depends on where you want to go. If to Europe, you can probably forget it (summer!).

diann24

It does depend on your destination. If it is in the Caribbean they often offer less flight as it is considered off season.

sparkchaser

It's the High Season so there will be less award availability.

Are you checking just UA or are you also looking at other Star Alliance flights?

There is a chance that more seats may become available. Are you the gambling type?

patandhank

How you're checking can also impact finding seats.

In other words, don't just look at the RT; check one-way to a connection point.

I was able to get award seats for June to South Africa but I did it by checking various routes.

It would help if you posted where you are headed so people could give you some ideas.

harvmatic

Half of my points are Mileage Plus with United,and the remainder with the Chase Sapphire card, which are redeemable on several airlines. I am seeking flights between Albany, NY and Shannon(SNN)in late July. I am open to leaving from Newark or even Boston, but would prefer to connect from Albany. I'm accessing the award travel by signing into my Mileage Plus account and viewing the available options. I just assumed, I was being shown all Star Alliance flights, as I see some for USAIR and occasionally AerLingus. Is there somewhere else I should be looking ?

sparkchaser

How many days?

I see a 100k Business class award departing on July 14 and returning on July 28.

I see you said late July. July 27 departure with an August 5 return also yields a 100k business class flight.

harvmatic

Thanks sparkchaser.
I forgot to mention that I am seeking the best available Economy saver Award (30,000 each way)and I have found two seats on July 22 but the departure time out of Albany is 7 am and the layover in Philly is 12 hours. I was just wondering if anyone had experience of additional seats being added as the travel date got closer. or if there would be even less seats available. I plan to wait another week or two and see if some new seats are added. I could take the waiting, but my husband, not so much

sparkchaser

You also negelected to mention that you were looking for two tickets.

A 12 hour layover in Philly might sound painful but it cam work to your advantage because you can take a trip into the city and see some sights and eat a proper Philly Cheesesteak and when you return to the airport, you can go to the lounge and take a shower before boarding your flight to SNN. You should have an easier time sleeping than if you took a later flight into Philly.

harvmatic

Thank you, sparkchaser. I had considered that idea, and it might work, but I will continue monitoring for one more month and take my chances on finding a better one.

sparkchaser

The flip side of that is that the longer you wait, the less awards may be available.

harvmatic

Hope someone can tell me if I'm interpreting this correctly.
I see 4 flights with award seating available on United airlines on the Ultimate Rewards website for the dates I need, yet when I look on the United website, I see only one flight (at an undesirable hour) for that departure date and none for the return date I need.
If award seating is available on a United flight, shouldn't it be displayed on United's website?
I would appreciate any help in understanding if I should be asking United why they are not displaying all the available award seats.

sparkchaser

It should but it's not always 100%. That's why you should call to book.

Kathie

I agree - call and book. It's worth the $25.

P_M

You would be wise to take what you can get now and keep checking back to see if something better opens up. If you change it and keep the same route then the only charge would be the difference in taxes. If you keep waiting around for the perfect schedule then you might lose altogether.

mrwunrfl

Back in January I saw that there was 1 award seat available for an afternoon flight ALB-PHL with a reasonable couple of hours to connect to the SNN flight. The only other availability was the early AM flight with 12+ hours connect. Both connected to the same flight to SNN. I didn't think you would go for the idea of the two travelers departing ALB 10 hours apart, so I didn't mention it. It would have meant looking and hoping that another seat on the later ALB flight would become available.

Today, the later flight is not available. There are still 2 seats available on the 22nd for the early AM flights.

On the 23rd, there are 2 seats available on United with an 11+ hour connection in Chicago. I would probably book that online then call to have an agent check the later flights. Expect the agent to find no availability and then ask to be wait-listed on a later flight (2:25 PM). I would then expect the agent to say you can't wait-list an award flight. And then I would book a flexible day rate at an ORD hotel.

mrwunrfl

Same as what P_M said, only different: I would wait only if not going is an option.

For an award to South Africa, my plan was to not go if I could not find what I wanted when I wanted it. I'm not going.

There is a later ALB-CLE-ORD flight on the 23rd, but I would take the 6AM nonstop.

harvmatic

Thanks to all for your input.
Not going is not an option and my departure date has to be no later than July 23rd, so I booked 2 seats from Boston to Frankfurt to Dublin on Lufthansa for 60,000 points. (When I spoke with the United rep, she insisted that of all the available award seats available on Ultimate rewards, the only flight that qualified as a Saver award(30,000) was the 6 am United flight from Albany).
I'm okay with what I have booked for my departure,(I always wanted to fly Lufthansa) and my return date is much more flexible, so I will keep checking until something suitable pops up.

I'm very curious as to why there is no award travel from Dublin during the entire first week of August but the remainder of the month is completely open. I know the Horse show is happening from 6th to 10th, but wouldn't that be more likely to free up seats rather than cause a lack of same ?

harvmatic

Just wanted to report that I was able to book Saver award flights on United for my return trip, They added some additional flights and I was able to secure 2 seats from DUB to Newark to Albany. Now all I need is a way to shrink my luggage, so my carry on does not exceed their new specs ! Thanks to all for your help and suggestions.