mrwunrfl

I would call and book the return on any *A carrier or combination of carriers. Find out what it would take to change the one-way to a roundtrip - explain that you booked the one-way because your return date was not available.

If you have a UA partner on the return you can still get waitlisted for the UA domestic legs.

You will also be able to change the return to be on UA, if that is what you want.

Carol's idea of booking first class is an excellent one, if you have the miles. I would definitely see about flying on a partner, especially Asiana, before United in F.

Yes, the ANA search does show Asiana. The tool requires that you have miles in your AMC account. There is a workaround described at flyertalk (basically, go ahead and search for ANA-only and then there is an option for *A).

simpsonc510

Trust me, Craig... you'd really like first class! My last BKK trip in first has absolutely spoiled me silly... haha

yestravel

mrw -- I have a question about your suggestion. Do i understand that I could book a flight with UA miles on any combination of Star Alliance carriers and waitlist on a UA flight. If the UA flt becomes available they will change it with no charge? Also how come you're suggesting turning 2 one way tixs into one ticket? What's the advantage (other than if you have to redeposit the miles it will cost less)? thanks!

mrwunrfl

The reason I am suggesting a round-trip ticket instead of two one-ways is because a one-way would have to be all-United. That one-way option is not available to Craig right now.

I suppose that the miles would have to be re-deposited and I suppose that they might want to charge a re-deposit fee. It is likely because he would have to be re-ticketed. But I don't know that for sure. Given the circumstances, I think it is definitely worth calling and seeing what they can do. (a 1K can make this change with no fee and maybe they would make an exception for Craig, if such an exception is even necessary).

If he gets a round-trip ticket then maybe he can book another *A carrier for the return. He would then be able to change the return to be on United if seats become available. He would be able to do that even after taking the outbound trip (see the rules for changes before/after departure). United would like it if he changed his return from Singapore Airlines (or Asiana, or ANA, etc.) to United.

Another option with a round-trip ticket is that he can book the return on United or another *A at some other date that was available, in the date (dates) he wants are not available on any *A. Then he can change to the date that he wants, if available.

Or, as suggested before, he can just wait/hope for availability on United for the date he wants.

I will return to this in about 10 min.

mrwunrfl

I was suggesting waitlisting for a domestic upgrade in the case where he can get a trans-pac biz class ticket on a different *A carrier and book economy (when first is not available) and waitlist for the upgrade.

But it occurs to me that there are more waitlist options. For example get biz class on SQ from SIN to NRT, economy on UA from NRT to IAD/ORD/SFO and economy or F to BDL. Then waitlist for the biz class seats. It wouldn't be an upgrade, really, because he would have paid, in miles, the biz class price).

Or book economy on UA all the way back on the date(s) he wants, if it is available and no C/F is available, and waitlist for all segments. I think this can be done for any/all UA segments on a UA-only itin or multiple carries. He can't get waitlisted on non-UA carriers.

This last option means that the return could be booked in economy on the day(s) he wants on UA and waitlisted for the "upgrade". That way, Craig won't have to check for availability every day. And it wouldn't require changing to a round-trip ticket. He can get the E+ seats on a one-way ticket.

So there are a lot of possible options, that is why I will suggest, again, that he call.

Plus the availability of XC (award) seats that united.com shows might not actually be true (I think it is but some flyertalkers believe that NC upgrade availability info is not accurate and there is a reason why they call it .bomb (I'm hoping that the contractors that run the CO website will be brought in to fix it).

Craig

regarding calling: what is the best way to reach someone in the USA who can actually help with something like this? I find that those at the foreign call centers are generally ignorant at best and for the most part, rather incompetent...

DonTopaz

> what is the best way to reach someone in the USA who can actually help?

Call the Premier Exec line, 800-225-8900. At each prompt until you get to "domestic or international," say "representative."

(This method worked as of about 15 months ago; I can't verify that it still does.)

There's an ethical issue in this method, because you're using a resource that rightfully belongs to UA's mid-level elites. However, UA pretty much forces consumers into this, due to the woeful arrangements that UA set up with their off-shore call centers.

yestravel

Thanks for all the info. Hopefully when the time comes to rebook my flights I won't need it!

mrwunrfl

I just realized that the idea of booking a one-way economy ticket and waitlisting for biz class doesn't make sense -- it would be booked as an economy award! If you get one segment in a premium class then maybe you could waitlist the E+ segments.

I can't give advice on calling because I use the 1K line and they are generally pretty good. I do have it in my mind that if I call in the evening (in California) that I stand a good chance of getting the call center in Hawaii where I've received good help in the past. Supposing that their peak call volume is during the day you might have better luck in the evening, but this is just a theory.

Craig

I called the Premier Exec line today just to check - they were very nice but there is nothing. Looks like I am just going to have to wait.

Interestingly, there is a lot availability in first but not on the day we want to fly - for the small amount of miles required, I would go for it if the timing was right.

DonTopaz

<b>A word of praise for ExpertFlyer</b>

I was in a semi-similar situation as the OP, and ExpertFlyer (www.expertflyer.com) just bailed me out. I'd wanted to get an American Airlines bus class award seat to Tokyo on a specific date. The seat was unavailable, but it looked likely that AA would make some seats available as the flight date drew closer.

I set up ExpertFlyer to automatically send me e-mail if/when an seat became available. EF sent the email yesterday, and I called AA right away to bag the seat.

Now there are soem caveats: EF is a pay site -- $10/month if you want to have the alerts feature. Also, EF does not show award availability for all airlines. It covers the biggest US airlines (AA, UA, DL) and some foreign carriers (AC, AF, for example), but some popular carriers are not covered (CO, BA, LH).

In addition to award availabilities and alerts, EF does show the availability for all booking classes for all airlines. (If you wanted only award and booking class availability without the alerts feature, the price is $5/mo.) Detailed info is available on the website.

ExpertFlyer is not for everyone. But, if you're looking for seats on specific flights, and if it's time-critical for you to know when those seats become available, EF might be worth the expense.

yestravel

Thanks for the tip on EF -- didn't know about them and sounds like a good thing to check into if we run into similar problems as the OP

pavot

In case anyone cares, I did get the seats I wanted.

Good luck to you, Craig!

yestravel

pavot--good 4 u! That's a great feeling when that happens. enjoy your trip.