Flying on United

[GWMinUS]

I want to use my Frequent Flyer Miles with United to fly from LAX to BKK.
Never done this before so a couple of questions.

United has a flight from LAX to BKK. So must I use the FF miles on United or can I choose to fly on Singapore or Thai, which are Star Alliance members?

I have the 60,000 miles required for a ticket to SE Asia. Can I book several segments for the 60,000 miles. Say LAX to SIN, SIN to MNL, MNL to BBK and BKK to LAX. Must they all be on the same airline, or can I fly Singapore from LAX to MNL and then Thai from MNL to BKK and then BKK to LAX.

Finally, can I use FF miles to upgrade on Thai from Economy to Deluxe Economy? Anyone know how many FF miles are required for an upgrade?

OK, three questions. Some answers please...

:geek:

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>United has a flight from LAX to BKK. So must I use the FF miles on United or can I choose to fly on Singapore or Thai, which are Star Alliance members?

1. Fly SQ or TG anytime. SQ is far superior in terms of inflight entertainment and comfort. It should also give you a free stop over in Singapore where the boys speak English and don't need your money. TG isn't too bad as well compared to UA's bitchy matrons. Drawback is that these airlines only have a limited number of seats available for redemption by other Star Alliance programs. Reserve way ahead in advance.

>Must they all be on the same airline, or can I fly Singapore from LAX to MNL and then Thai from MNL to BKK and then BKK to LAX.

2. This routing is best checked with your Mileage Plus agents who will advise on the number of miles you'll need. I suspect you won't be able to get away with all these segments. If you choose SQ, you could get away with LAX-SIN-BKK-SIN-LAX as SIN is the gateway for your routing. TG will prob offer you LAX-BKK-MNL-BKK-LAX.

>FF miles to upgrade on Thai from Economy to Deluxe Economy? Anyone know how many FF miles are required for an upgrade?

3. You're referring to that Premium Economy available on the A345 flight from LAX to BKK. Maybe you should check the *A upgrade award calculator that is available at the UA mileage plus website. The mile chart is segment based and not published. FYI, the upgrade is from a Y fare to C (Business class), I don't think there is an upgrade from B class (economy) to Y class (premium economy).

Another option to consider is redemption on the direct LAX-SIN flight on economy. All the economy seats on that 18 hour flight are premium economy, at the redemption cost of an economy ticket on SQ. However, these seats are limited and advance reservations are advisable.

You can try United's website:

www.united.com/page/middlepage/0,6823,1153,00.html?navSource=Dropdown&linkTitle=P rogram+information

However, I have always found calling them will get you a person who can answer all your questions.

Since your handle suggests your in the US, call them at:

Phone support
Award reservations
Domestic award reservations: 1-888-467-0507
International award reservations: 1-888-674-4680
Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Mileage Plus customer service
Account questions: 1-800-421-4655
Password support: 1-866-209-3323 (U.S. only)
7a.m. - 12a.m. CT, 7 days a week

The customer service folks at United are some of the best.

The customer service folks at United are some of the best.

Provided you get a US-based Call Centre

[Davey612]

I want to use my Frequent Flyer Miles with United to fly from LAX to BKK.
Never done this before so a couple of questions.

United has a flight from LAX to BKK. So must I use the FF miles on United or can I choose to fly on Singapore or Thai, which are Star Alliance members?

For a free ticket award, you can use any of the Star Alliance members so long as they have seat inventory allocated to United passengers

I have the 60,000 miles required for a ticket to SE Asia. Can I book several segments for the 60,000 miles. Say LAX to SIN, SIN to MNL, MNL to BBK and BKK to LAX. Must they all be on the same airline, or can I fly Singapore from LAX to MNL and then Thai from MNL to BKK and then BKK to LAX.

No. But you are allowed one open-jaw city (either on the way or on the return), I think. So, in your example, You can say LAX to SIN and return from BKK to LAX. You'll have to pay for the SIN - BKK leg. I may be wrong on this, but I did use such a system once with SAS to fly to Europe

Finally, can I use FF miles to upgrade on Thai from Economy to Deluxe Economy? Anyone know how many FF miles are required for an upgrade?

United FF miles can only be used for upgrades on United. You can't use those miles to upgrade on other Star Alliance flights. As a practical matter, I think the best way to use the United FF miles is to buy the lowest economy class on United that allows an upgrade to business. That I think, is the H class ticket. You can check all the regulations at this website:
]www.flyertalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=504
OK, three questions. Some answers please...

:geek:

I want to use my Frequent Flyer Miles with United to fly from LAX to BKK.
Never done this before so a couple of questions.

United has a flight from LAX to BKK. So must I use the FF miles on United or can I choose to fly on Singapore or Thai, which are Star Alliance members?

I have the 60,000 miles required for a ticket to SE Asia. Can I book several segments for the 60,000 miles. Say LAX to SIN, SIN to MNL, MNL to BBK and BKK to LAX. Must they all be on the same airline, or can I fly Singapore from LAX to MNL and then Thai from MNL to BKK and then BKK to LAX.

Finally, can I use FF miles to upgrade on Thai from Economy to Deluxe Economy? Anyone know how many FF miles are required for an upgrade?

OK, three questions. Some answers please...

:geek:

yes you can use United miles to book on Singapore airlines or Thai airways, but you still need to contacty United and have United book for you. Finding Singapore airlines or Thai airways' availability is not easy, sometimes impossible.
you can book multiple segments if the route require connections (such as in Toykyo, Singapore or Taipei). If the route does not require connections, it will be difficult to ask United to break the route to the multiple segments you want. All United agents do is key in the depart and arrive city, dates. Whatever spit out on the computer is what they will give you, very rarely do they tailor-made segments for you.

I want to use my Frequent Flyer Miles with United to fly from LAX to BKK.
Never done this before so a couple of questions.

United has a flight from LAX to BKK. So must I use the FF miles on United or can I choose to fly on Singapore or Thai, which are Star Alliance members?

I have the 60,000 miles required for a ticket to SE Asia. Can I book several segments for the 60,000 miles. Say LAX to SIN, SIN to MNL, MNL to BBK and BKK to LAX. Must they all be on the same airline, or can I fly Singapore from LAX to MNL and then Thai from MNL to BKK and then BKK to LAX.

Finally, can I use FF miles to upgrade on Thai from Economy to Deluxe Economy? Anyone know how many FF miles are required for an upgrade?

OK, three questions. Some answers please...

:geek:

yes you can use United miles to book on Singapore airlines or Thai airways, but you still need to contacty United and have United book for you. Finding Singapore airlines or Thai airways' availability is not easy, sometimes impossible.
you can book multiple segments if the route require connections (such as in Toykyo, Singapore or Taipei). If the route does not require connections, it will be difficult to ask United to break the route to the multiple segments you want. All United agents do is key in the depart and arrive city, dates. Whatever spit out on the computer is what they will give you, very rarely do they tailor-made segments for you.

[Davey612]

This is the exact language from United:

"тАаOne stopover en route to your final destination or one open jaw is permitted for a flight award on United between the continental U.S. and Hawaii or between the U.S. and the Caribbean, Asia, Australia, Central and South America or Europe. No stopovers are permitted within a geographic region."

So, either a stopover, which in your situation, the only possible stopover I can think is tokyo given that the route from LAX to BKK has a stopover (or change of planes) in Japan.

Or, as I suggested earlier, use an open jaw. Like my previous example.

In practical terms, if you want to go to SIN and MNL too, then it may be just easier to do a round trip to BKK and use a cheap Asian carrier (such as Air Asia) to take your intra-Asia flights. As they say, it is up to you.

[fedssocr]

it is possible to do a Star Alliance upgrade on Thai using United miles. But you have to do it online using their website and it also depends on your booking class. Y class is economy not Premium Econ. My Premium Econ ticket is class U. When I tried to do a Star Alliance upgrade it was not allowed because my ticket was not the right class. The Star Alliance upgrade page has all of the details. It will probably cost you 30K miles one way to upgrade.

I would definitely book the Thai direct flight from LAX over the United connecting flight.

You should be able to do an open jaw as mentioned before. I have done this to Europe using MP miles. You do usually need to plan quite a ways in advance but sometimes you get lucky. You have to be flexible with your dates. If the first person you talk to can't find anything call back and talk to another agent. It also helps if you do some research in advance and know what flights are possible using both United itself and its partners. Some agents don't want to bother checking the partner availability so you may need to ask them to do it. I once used miles and my trip was on 3 different airlines so they had to get supervisory approval for it but it went through no problem.

[GWMinUS]

You season travelers are GREAT!!!

I am traveling in Mid-January, so it may be too late to get the tickets I want.
But always EVA, and pay!!!

I have loked at several options so will be prepared,
Will call United this week, pay my $15, and PRAY!!!
Let you know what is the result...

CHEERS
:cheers: