Rife with Upgrade Opportunities: New Routes, Upgraded Seats, Aircraft Changes

March 2013
Read Offline

Brussels Airlines

Affiliation: Star Alliance, Miles & More program.

Increase in service: On June 18 it starts a second flight, Washington, DC-Brussels (SN515/516), using A330s with a 78-inch long flat-bed seat in Business Class.

Survey of Business Class Mileage Award Space on Brussels Airlines, Washington, DC-Brussels

[table_opt style="gray-header" id="1258 " width="" alignment="center" responsive="all" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter"]

Getting the Miles: Transfer 85,000 points from Starwood, and with the 25% bonus for every 20,000 miles transferred, you’ll have the 105,000 miles needed. See chart above for months with favorable award availability.

Delta Airlines

Affiliation: SkyTeam, SkyMiles program.

Increase in service and aircraft change: Delta adds a second Seattle-Tokyo non-stop on June 1, and will also
put a newly retrofitted B747-400s with 48 flat-bed seats in Business Class on its current Seattle-Tokyo flight.

Survey of Business Class Mileage Award Space on Delta, Seattle-Tokyo

[table_opt style="gray-header" id="1260 " width="" alignment="center" responsive="all" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter"]

Getting the Miles: Transfer 100,000 points from Starwood, and with the 25% bonus you’ll have the 120,000 miles needed for Business Class; or transfer from Amex Rewards. See chart below to the left for months with favorable award availability.

United

Affiliation: Star Alliance, Mileage Plus program.

Equipment change nets new First Class availability: On March 30, United starts flying three-cabin B767-300s from Houston to London, which means new First Class award space. 135,000 miles needed.

Survey of First Class Mileage Award Space on United, Houston-London

[table_opt style="gray-header" id="1264 " width="" alignment="center" responsive="all" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter"]

United First Class

Getting the Miles: United is a credit card transfer partner with Chase Ultimate Rewards and also a Point-Transfer-Friendly (PTF) airline (for more, see FCF Aug. issue, page 2), meaning it will hold award space for a fee while you transfer points. Hold times range from 24 hours to 7 days, depending on the route. Transfers from Chase sometimes occur within 24 hours. See chart above for months with favorable award availability in First Class.

[["Departure Availability","#colspan#","#colspan#","Return Availability","#colspan#","#colspan#"],["Handful","Decent","Go For It","Handful","Decent","Go For It"],["","Sept., Oct.,","July, Aug., Nov., Dec.","July","Sept. to Nov.","Aug., Dec."],["<strong><span style=\"color: #6699cc;\">Handful:<\/span><\/strong> <em>Our most recent research shows that award space is available for at least one person about 4 to 8 days during the months indicated in the chart. Worth pursuing if you\u2019re flexible.<\/em>","#colspan#","#colspan#","#colspan#","#colspan#","#colspan#"],["<strong><span style=\"color: #6699cc;\">Decent:<\/span><\/strong> <em>Our most recent research shows that upgrade award space is available for at least one person about 9 to 12 days during the months indicated.<\/em>","#colspan#","#colspan#","#colspan#","#colspan#","#colspan#"],["<strong><span style=\"color: #6699cc;\">Go For It:<\/span><\/strong> <em>Our most recent research shows that award space is available for one person about 13 days or more during the months indicated.<\/em>","#colspan#","#colspan#","#colspan#","#colspan#","#colspan#"]]
[["Departure Availability","#colspan#","#colspan#","Return Availability","#colspan#","#colspan#"],["Handful","Decent","Go For It","Handful","Decent","Go For It"],["","","June to Dec.","Aug.","June, July","Sept. to Dec."],["<strong><span style=\"color: #6699cc;\">Handful:<\/span><\/strong> <em>Our most recent research shows that award space is available for at least one person about 4 to 8 days during the months indicated in the chart. Worth pursuing if you\u2019re flexible.<\/em>","#colspan#","#colspan#","#colspan#","#colspan#","#colspan#"],["<strong><span style=\"color: #6699cc;\">Decent:<\/span><\/strong> <em>Our most recent research shows that upgrade award space is available for at least one person about 9 to 12 days during the months indicated.<\/em>","#colspan#","#colspan#","#colspan#","#colspan#","#colspan#"],["<strong><span style=\"color: #6699cc;\">Go For It:<\/span><\/strong> <em>Our most recent research shows that award space is available for one person about 13 days or more during the months indicated.<\/em>","#colspan#","#colspan#","#colspan#","#colspan#","#colspan#"]]
[["Departure Availability","#colspan#","#colspan#","Return Availability","#colspan#","#colspan#"],["Handful","Decent","Go For It","Handful","Decent","Go For It"],["","","April to Dec.","","","April to Dec."],["<strong><span style=\"color: #6699cc;\">Go For It:<\/span><\/strong> <em>Our most recent research shows that award space is available for at least one person about 13 days or more during the months indicated.<\/em>","#colspan#","#colspan#","#colspan#","#colspan#","#colspan#"]]