DH is all booked for his arrival in BKK in early December. He arrives from ZRH. Me.. I fly in from ORD. In checking prices for the dates I need, the fare is over 2k for an economy ticket. I check flight details and see that all the cheap seats are taken. Anyone think they will have to open up more seats? This is on UA. DS would also like to find a cheap ticket. His dates are running about $1800 right now.

Wait it out? Cry in my beer? Let DH go it alone in BKK for 4 weeks over Chrismas and New Year...(NOT!!)...?

At this point, I'm waiting.......... but I hate to wait too long!

Carol

Try looking at flights from JFK or LA, the combo might be a little cheaper than out of O'Hare.

I'll look, Andy. SEA is a cheaper routing option, but I really don't want to go thru SEA. What I'd prefer is 881/882 on UA (ORD-NRT-BKK/BKK-NRT-ORD) but those are priced so high. UGH... I'm sure I'll find something.... patience...

if you can travel before Dec 9 and return before Dec 30 or after Jan 7 the fares are not too bad.

Or if you can connect via Singapore (UA - Dec 9 return Jan 7) the fare is only $980. Then connect to BKK from SIN using Tiger Airways for super cheap fares of < 120 SGD.

My dates are not flexible (by much). I wish they were! I need to go on Dec 15-16-17 and return on Jan 3-4. That's it. I can see that rates go down if I return on Jan 5... but I just can't do that.

why not look at a united partner??

Bob
I just did a search on star alliance. A UA/Thai mix (via LAX) is quite a bit more money! I'll just keep watching, for now.

Carol

call united and ask what they can offer

It is your return date, of course, that is the problem. The Jan. 4 return is on H fares (upgradeable for 30,000 miles or 1 SWU). Jan. 5 is a V fare that you would be able to upgrade with a SWU but not miles.

mrwunrfl
Now that I'm much more aware of those fare codes, I've been looking to see what is available. But, do they open up more fares later on? The planes aren't full yet!
Carol

Just did a check on Vayama AA is $1485 ORD-BKK leaving 12/16 returning 1/4

Nywoman... I'm a star alliance person. I really do not like AA, having had several problems with them some 10 years ago or so. They also have cheaper prices from ORD to BKK, but I am not going to purchase AA tickets!! I want UA!!

Sorry I'm going to miss meeting you at the BKK GTG, btw.

Carol

I just did a different sort of search. On the Jan 4th flight, the seats are almost all taken for the BKK to NRT portion, but plenty of seats available for the NRT to ORD flight! In that case, I could fly Thai to NRT and then UA to ORD. But how does one go about booking that configuration? It doesn't show up when I do a UA search. Do I need to call a UA rep? Thoughts?
Carol

In this case I think it would be well worth it to call UA and pay the booking fee. There is some luck involved, but I was quite pleased with the results of my call.

Yes, I'd call them, Carol. On complicated arrangements I always call them.

Femi
Now I'm curious... you were equite pleased with the results of your call?? Can you shed any light on that without giving away secrets??

I'll pay the $25 if it's worth my time.

Carol

There's no secret to it. I was looking for an award ticket to South Africa, and they routed me from LAX via Singapore which I would never have found on my own. In fact, I've tried to do a dummy booking and it's not allowed.

They've also helped with upgrades on other trips, to which I would otherwise have had no access.

Plus, there's no fee to call, you only pay if they find a booking you like.

P.S. I'm following your thread on the airlines forum. I had thought I would stick with Star Alliance forever, but all of a sudden (yeah, right ) I've found myself with status on Skyteam via NW. Never say never.

Duh! I was referring to what you said on this thread about never going with AA.

I never was very good at multi-tasking!

Over the years, I've had really good experiences calling and talking things over with the airlines. This is the one area in which the US carriers excel. The responders have almost always been very helpful. It works especially well if you're online at the same time. A few years ago, i booked a BOS-BKK flight for $808 on the phne with United. At the same time, the online fare was $100 more. As Femi said, there's no charge to call them.

Thanks, guys. I'm encouraged to call them! I got our upgrades to HNL next Sunday (and return also) by calling the # on my UA gold star alliance card.

But... if the flights you want aren't available (by dummy booking).. and you book with the UA person on the phone, doesn't that incur the fee? I don't mind it at all, if they get me a good deal. And since I'm a very frequent flier, they should be nice to me... haha

Carol