ICN is Seoul, Korea. You can also access Nepal and Bhutan from Delhi (Lufthansa flies there)...

"United no longer goes there on their own metal so that forces you into the higher redemption prices for partner flights"

Not sure what you mean. Saver awards from the US to SE Asia are ALL the same amount of miles (160,000 R/T); whether it's United metal or not is irrelevant.

The only higher redemption values are non-Saver (Standard) awards.

To get to Paro, you'll need to fly through either Bangkok or Delhi. SFO-ICN-BKK would be a shorter flight for you than via Delhi, but if the only Business class flight you can get is via Europe, it's probably worth it.

Like others here, I had never paid a Business class fare on United - until now. We are headed to Lima on Monday and I was surprised to find we could buy business class seats for under $2000 round trip.

We are also finding business class fares on United and others attractive. Recently we upgraded for our February trip to Panama and have noted that planned trips to Nicaragua and Colorado also have attractive pricing for the premium seats. I would not hesitate to pay for business class to South America as those seats are 180 degree lie-flat (from Houston anyway). In researching seats to South Africa, it seems that waiting is the best strategy, as it will be for your trip. I agree with Kathie that from the west coast, it may not make much sense to go through Europe. Also, filmwill is right - there is no premium for using partner airlines. We have done this many times with excellent results.

United changed their mileage requirements this year, so that now, flying on partner airlines does cost more miles. Saver awards from the US to SE Asia are 70,000 miles each way on United, 80,000 each way on partner airlines. Take a look at the tables on United.com.

Am curious to know how much better the situation would be for those of premier status. Good to hear about business fare under 2000. When I looked at Bangkok a while ago they were posting 6,000 which is out of our league.

Do you all know that Norwegian Airlines has a nonstop from Stockholm to Oakland (CA) with roomy seating on business class (though no sparkling wine or hanging up your jacket) for as low as $800 one way? Friends who summer in Stockholm speak well of it.

Kathie,
I will look forward to reading your trip report to Machu Pichu (must remember to check South America forum which is not usually one I follow).

Am curious to know how much better the situation would be for those of premier status. Good to hear about business fare under 2000. When I looked at Bangkok a while ago they were posting 6,000 which is out of our league.

Do you all know that Norwegian Airlines has a nonstop from Stockholm to Oakland (CA) with roomy seating on business class (though no sparkling wine or hanging up your jacket) for as low as $800 one way? Friends who summer in Stockholm speak well of it.

Kathie,
I will look forward to reading your trip report to Machu Pichu (must remember to check South America forum which is not usually one I follow).

Is it possible that Asiana offers no meal on business from SF to Seoul? We could cope (I can cope with almost anything but 747 economy on long flights) but seemed curious. There is well-timed flight from SF to Seoul to BKK with 4 hour layover (fine with me--other choice is 1 hour which makes me too anxious)...available for 80,000 late Sept but says no meal).

There is no benefit to holding Premier status. I'm Platinum with United and I've never had better availability searching for awards than when I was Gold ... or even when I had no status at all. In fact, I've accidentally forgotten to log in as Premier on their site when searching for award flights and I still got the same exact results.

As for Asiana, they absolutely serve meals...multiple meals on a flight of that length.

Kathie, I was unaware about the 70,000 reward saver fare on UA metal. Maybe I've never seen that because United simply doesn't fly anywhere in Asia from LAX (except Japan) that would ever be of interest to me. For the 10,000 extra miles it's not even a question of value to avoid flying on UA internationally.

cmstraf: the idea is not to get miles by using the credit card but by signing up for it. For example, various AMEX or Chase cards give 40-50k points for signup (after meeting some minimum spend, which is usually about $2-3k over 3 months). Their points transfer instantly to United (and many other places) at 1-1. Then you can cancel the card and sign up again after a decent interval. Read the blogs.

If you are looking for partner flights, be aware that United does not display all of the options. Read the links I mentioned to learn how to search more options using the Air Canada and ANA search engines.

Norwegian business class seats are not horizontal, nor even lie-flat. There is no point in business class unless it is a horizontal bed. For all their faults of service, United's business class seat is good (especially upstairs on a 747).

Craig: most United flights to the Northern part of South America (as far south as Lima) use domestic planes. Are you sure you have lie-flat?

cmstraf, I'm a million-miler, and do not get better access to saver flights.

Filmwill, this is a new mileage redemption table as of February this year. I had forgotten about it until someone raised the issue and I went and looked.

The point several people have made about partner flights is a good one. Many partner flights don't show on the United booking engine, you have to call. It will cost you - what? $25? to speak with an agent - only charged if you book.

I just switched out a United credit card I'd had for well over a decade to get a new one that would give me 30,000 miles for sign up. (I just missed the 50,000 mile promotion).

Someotherguy, the flight from Houston to Lima and the return flight have lie-flat seats. Believe me, I checked before I bought the tickets.

Lie flat seats are heaven! You must be getting excited.
Thanks for the tip about calling Kathie--sometimes I am happy to pay the $25. The trick is to get an agent who is knowledgable and nice...as opposed to someone paid almost nothing in a call center...

We definitely had lie flat seats on United to Lima.

"The trick is to get an agent who is knowledgable and nice...as opposed to someone paid almost nothing in a call center..."

Now THERE is somewhere your Premiere status can actually be beneficial. The higher your status, the better (and more competent) the reps. At least I've found...

I am flying to Panama and no, we don't have lie-flat seats. I am aware of that and we are flying during the day on a relatively short flight when it doesn't matter that much. I am also aware that the flights to Lima do have lie-flat seats and that makes sense - they are much longer, I believe they are overnight and I did check before posting. I have actually gotten better results from the call centers, especially when requesting reroutings due to United's arbitrary changes in flight times than I have from the local folks in Chicago who apparently believe that "no" is the only answer...

>>Is it possible that Asiana offers no meal on business from SF to Seoul? <<

No.

Also, I would assume that "No Special Meal Offered" is simply not true. I would get the Asiana PNR and go to their website intending to select seats and choose meals. I would (did) join their FF program for this purpose (and for passport and contact info) but you might not have to. Same goes for any airline.

The point that Mr. W. is trying to make is that United does not list meal service for it's partner airlines on it's own website. Go to the partner airline's web page for info...

Have any of you flown with them? I'm checking day by day and their flight from SFO looks like it's my only option for getting an $80,000 seat soon. I'm inclined to take it.

My plan at this point is to get us one way business class seats to BKK now and workVERY hard to earn miles for the return flight ASAP with plan B going economy plus. It's the flight there I really care about and a friend is going to help with getting a good rate at the hotel in KTM where we want to stay, but needs dates soon.

I haven't flown with them, but they get very good reviews. I wouldn't hesitate to fly Asiana.

Thanks Kathie, I think that's probably what I will do, if the seats they are showing keep coming up for next few weeks (we want to leave on Oct 31). There's a decent layover--4 hour, not the 3 I prefer, but I am too conservative to do 55 min, their other option.

--you must be getting down to last details of packing. Do you take packets of travel size kleenex? It's one of my don't-go-without.