Author Topic: United award flights  (Read 804496 times)

Offline chucksterace

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Re: United award flights
« Reply #820 on: February 13, 2014, 08:10:54 AM »
Seems like Brussels Airlines is back available through UAL.com

Saw some availability online, plus this
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Offline Moishebatchy

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Re: United award flights
« Reply #821 on: February 13, 2014, 09:00:52 AM »
Zeh lo oveid kacha.
When a seat is taken from XN it goes away from X as well.

+1

Warning: major digression ahead, with plenty of technical details. Hard hats required... as well as patience. >:D

Higher buckets overlap lower buckets - like we say, "b'chlal ma'asayim maneh". For example, if you look at revenue biz tickets, and you see J8 C8 D7 Z5 P2, that does not mean there are 30 seats (8 + 8 + 7 + 5 + 2) available; it means there are 8, as follows:

2 seats available in whatever fare class you want,
5 that are available in J C D or Z (but not P),
7 that are available in J C or D (but not Z or P),
and 8 that are available in J or C.

If you take two seats in P, then in theory the availability will drop to J6 C6 D5 Z3 P0 - each bucket loses 2 seats, not just the bucket you took from. (I say "in theory", because in practice, airlines can do whatever the heck they want... and they often do. If the computer wants, it can suddenly make all of them only available in J, resulting in J6 C0 D0 Z0 P0. Or if they want to sell everything fast, they can put everything into P, resulting in J6 C6 D6 Z6 P6. But I'm digressing, which is why this is in small print. :P) Likewise, if you take 5 in D, that won't result in only D going to zero; Z and P will (generally) go to zero as well with it.

Complicated enough?

« Last Edit: February 13, 2014, 09:05:58 AM by Moishebatchy »

Offline jaywhy

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Re: United award flights
« Reply #822 on: February 13, 2014, 09:05:36 AM »
Great explanation MB!

Offline meshugener

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Re: United award flights
« Reply #823 on: February 13, 2014, 09:16:05 AM »
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Offline Dr Moose

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Re: United award flights
« Reply #824 on: February 13, 2014, 09:32:50 AM »
Likewise, if you take 5 in D, that won't result in only D going to zero
why wouldnt there be 2 left in D? Or is this example saying, after you already took the 2 from P?
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Offline avrumy22

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Re: United award flights
« Reply #825 on: February 13, 2014, 11:49:22 AM »
I have a flight from LAX-EWR today (award travel). I would like to push it off two days. My question is, bec of the snow is there a way  get United to rebook me on a diff flight this does not have award availability?

Offline jack

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Re: United award flights
« Reply #826 on: February 13, 2014, 11:55:41 AM »
I have a flight from LAX-EWR today (award travel). I would like to push it off two days. My question is, bec of the snow is there a way  get United to rebook me on a diff flight this does not have award availability?
Did they cancel / delay ur flight?

Offline avrumy22

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Re: United award flights
« Reply #827 on: February 13, 2014, 11:56:41 AM »
Did they cancel / delay ur flight?

It shows status to on time! But from what I hear EWR is a swamp!

Offline adam0619

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Re: United award flights
« Reply #828 on: February 13, 2014, 11:57:23 AM »
I have a flight booked in (I) FCO-VIE-JFK pre-deval, and need to change the date.  Origin and destination cities will remain the same, layover will change, but the flight is in coach.  ExpertFlyer is showing 9+ seats available in I for the flight.  I realize that Plan B only works when flying United metal, but is there a way to change my current reservation to the coach flight, but then snag the business availability if/when it becomes available at my pre-deval rate?  I'm nervous to wait to make the change until I opens up because I don't want to lose the date altogether.

Offline Moishebatchy

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Re: United award flights
« Reply #829 on: February 13, 2014, 12:19:10 PM »

Offline Moishebatchy

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Re: United award flights
« Reply #830 on: February 13, 2014, 12:21:25 PM »
why wouldnt there be 2 left in D? Or is this example saying, after you already took the 2 from P?

Yup, I was continuing from:
If you take two seats in P, then in theory the availability will drop to J6 C6 D5 Z3 P0

I guess I should've stuck with the original numbers (D7) and said "if you take 7 in D". Sorry for the confusion.

Offline Dan

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Re: United award flights
« Reply #831 on: February 13, 2014, 12:23:23 PM »
And many airlines, like SQ will have I1 on a route like SIN-MLE and it will go down to 0 for about a minute before going back to I1.
Go figure.
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Offline Dr Moose

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Re: United award flights
« Reply #832 on: February 13, 2014, 12:23:34 PM »
that's what i thought, but the "likewise" threw me off.
great explanation, thanks.
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Offline Moishebatchy

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Re: United award flights
« Reply #833 on: February 13, 2014, 12:28:13 PM »
that's what i thought, but the "likewise" threw me off.
great explanation, thanks.
Thanks, no problem. :)

Offline Moishebatchy

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Re: United award flights
« Reply #834 on: February 13, 2014, 12:28:43 PM »
And many airlines, like SQ will have I1 on a route like SIN-MLE and it will go down to 0 for about a minute before going back to I1.
Go figure.

Trust me, I've seen crazier. Waaaaaaaaaaaaay crazier...

What you saw is actually explainable - an agent pulls the I class segment into his workspace, bringing the availability to 0; then the customer hangs up, so the agent releases all the segments, and they all go back into their buckets. Simple.

Offline meshugener

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Re: United award flights
« Reply #835 on: February 13, 2014, 12:32:37 PM »
And many airlines, like SQ will have I1 on a route like SIN-MLE and it will go down to 0 for about a minute before going back to I1.
Go figure.
That's simple.
Just like EK (and I think LY as well) don't release more than a certain amount of award seats on specific routes/cabins at a time.
So you just have to grab two seats, wait a few minutes and the system automatically adds another two seats.
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Offline meshugener

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Re: United award flights
« Reply #836 on: February 13, 2014, 12:35:20 PM »
Trust me, I've seen crazier. Waaaaaaaaaaaaay crazier...

What you saw is actually explainable - an agent pulls the I class segment into his workspace, bringing the availability to 0; then the customer hangs up, so the agent releases all the segments, and they all go back into their buckets. Simple.
I think Dan is referring to when it goes down to 0 after HE books and it jumps back to 1 after a few minutes.

But well, I'm not Dan's spokesperson (I used to be), so I'll let him take the microphone.
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Offline sam28

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Re: United award flights
« Reply #837 on: February 13, 2014, 01:54:14 PM »
can someone help me book a award flight with the extre leg ? could I do it online or only over the phone ?


Offline AJK

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Re: United award flights
« Reply #838 on: February 13, 2014, 01:54:39 PM »
Both are possible. Easier on phone.
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Offline sam28

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Re: United award flights
« Reply #839 on: February 13, 2014, 02:08:53 PM »
how do I book and award flight with extra leg online I am on hold with united over 1 hour so I will try to book online if u can please help me ?