A couple of months ago I booked roundtrip flights to Hanoi from Hartford, CT on a combination of ANA, Asiana, Thai and United. Without going into the detailed routing, suffice to say that we are booked in United economy on the domestic legs (BDL-ORD outbound and IAD-BDL inbound) and in business on the international legs (all Star Alliance). While a recent thread covered a similar situation, I have a few questions of my own:

1. When, if ever do domestic United "upgrades" open up to those that have "paid in full" for business class seats using miles. I realize that I will have to monitor the situation as there is no waiting list/auto upgrade with *A awards.

2. We have a 4 hour layover at Washington Dulles. While some of that time will be eaten up by going through baggage retrieval and customs/immigration, we will probably have some extra time. My understanding is that I will not be able to use the Red Carpet Club even if I have been upgraded to the front of the plane for the flight to Hartford. Is this correct? Is the lounge there worth it to purchase two Red Carpet passes ($100)?

3. I assume that because we have an international itinerary that we are exempt from excess baggage fees. However, we do tend to carry on quite a bit (camera equipment etc.) - will this be a problem if we are not upgraded on the Hartford - Chicago flight?

Thanks for your help. We are going next April and hoping that the flights don't change between now and then.

Congratulations, Craig, on scoring a business class international award! I love hearing success stories!!

Note that most domestic flights do not have a business class; your international business class award books into domestic first class.

To obtain your already paid for bookings into domestic first class, you must be vigilant and monitor the situation with United daily. Call twice daily if possible; do not rely on the United website. Do not be surprised if no openings occur until a week or so before departure, if then.

Enjoy Southeast Asia!

1) What you want is not an upgrade but a first class award seat. Like you said, you paid for first/business but accepted economy/business seats. The seats could become available anytime.

I would check, once a week, for availability at the united website. I have found it to be accurate for both upgrade and award seat availability on United. I actually called and verified with an agent what was on the website. Doing this requires that you set your united dot com preferences to "expert" and then doing a "Standard Award" search for BDL-ORD. Click on "Flight Info" for your flight and look for XF availability. XF0 - no F award seats, XF1=one F award seat, ...

What dates are you traveling? XF seats are available on flights in April. BDL-ORD on April 14 for example: 0 seats at 7:15AM, 5 seats at 8:45AM, 7 seats at 11:36AM.

2) I have a RCC membership and have used the lounges at IAD and don't think it is worth the $100. A domestic F ticket won't get you into the RCC but I think your international business class ticket will. What airline will you be on when you arrive at Dulles?

3) Don't assume. Read the following and then check back there in March:
http://www.united.com/page/middlepage/0,,1031,00.html

You can hope that there is no schedule change but you should expect it. I would check it weekly or bi-weekly this year and then weekly or more often starting in January. Online, I mean.

Mr. W - thanks for the tips. We leave for ORD on that 7:15 AM flight - shows the same availability as for your date. Actually, both outbound to ORD and inbound from IAD show XF0 - I'll just keep monitoring it.

We are flying into Dulles on ANA - it would be nice if they honored that business class ticket at the RCC. Any ideas on how to find out for sure whether they will?

Thanks for the link on luggage restrictions - I think we'll be fine.

We've already had one schedule change which actually turned out for the better. I have been checking online often and will continue to check as you have suggested.

I thought this might tell, but I am not sure of how to read it:
http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,3113,00.html
If you were on United then I think you'd be ok. Am just not sure.

You'll be able to use the Club ANA lounge at NRT. ANA only has a first class lounge at IAD (small but nice).

Too bad about the XF0, but hopefully your flight is F9 (nine or more first class seats for sale) or on that 737 it would max at F8. The NF number is the number of upgrades from coach that are available.

Actually, here is the info:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113792
Scroll down and see all the booking codes.

I agree with JohnAtLC that you should not really trust united dot com. But I definitely wouldn't bother calling them about it before the end of the year.

We leave for Hanoi in 19 days and we just got our last upgrade (BDL-ORD). Checking "XF" availability worked like a charm.

Along the way, there some minor changes in our flight times but no deal-breakers.

Craig,

Unfortunately, Mr W is mistaken about lounge access: you are entitled to lounge access only in your departure gateway city. Still, it's worth a try to see if the lounge dragon will let you in.

If not, I would counsel against spending a C-note for the RCC, unless you are authorized to print your own money. The United lounges typically offer no food, almost nothing to drink, and an ambience roughly equal to a Soviet-era railway station.

Best wishes for a fine trip,

--rizzuto (a Bostonian in New York)

Mr. Topaz - I am aware of the rules of lounge access and you are right, mr w is wrong. But I don't have to worry about that. I'm in business class on the trip home and my layover has now been shortened to less than 2 hours anyway due to flight changes.

Hi Craig...
Good for you!! That's great that you got everything lined up for your trip. I know you and Jeanne will have a fantastic time. (I tend to agree that the UA lounges are not worth $$)

I've been doing frequent checks of DS's and my upcoming flights from ORD to BKK. I watch our seats like a hawk because UA likes to go in and shuffle things up a bit. In the last week +, I've noted that two legs (the NRT/BKK portions) have been switched to the newly reconfigured 747s with flatbed seats in business class. UA likes to move you from upper deck to downstairs; from window to aisle, etc. I "think" we are in good seats now, but I'm going to keep watching regularly! I note that some seats are "back-facing" rather than facing forward. I wonder if that's a problem??

Have a great time on your journey.

Carol

Hi Craig,

Congrats on the biz seats! Mrw always has those codes down pat.

What hotel(s) are you guys staying in BKK this time?

Aloha!