United Airlines award travel
 

I've read the United awards charts over and over and have finally discovered that the Saver awards are for round-trip travel. But I can't find any information about exactly how a saver award works. Can someone please explain?

what are you wondering about? saver awards are for fewer miles than standard awards and are more tightly capacity controlled.

How does one get a saver award? As far as I can see, saver awards for travel within North America require 25 miles, but I'm wondering what the other requirements are. Wasn't United switching at some point to miles plus dollars?

Saver miles are roughly half of the standard award and as mentioned are tightly controlled. (A relatively small number of seats are available.) The standard award can be used as long as any seat is available.
United now has a miles + $ but I haven't used that program yet so I can't say much about it.

Look at the United website under Mileage Plus then find the link for Miles and Money for more information.

united is not switching to miles and money; they are offering it as an option.

You can also opt for ff tickets that are one-way. Do you have flexibility in your travel dates? Just curious...

The tickets would be for a friend. Her son is getting married in a small civil ceremony, but the date hasn't been set.