Business and leisure travelers can save big on 14 Transpacific flights (thousands of routes) to Asia—up to 71% off.
In the past five months, FCF has written five special reports for oneworld members (American) looking to deploy miles in order to achieve or maintain elite status. In December, we focused on Europe, in January on Asia, in February on South America, in March on the Transcon, and in April on Hawaii.
By the way, many of these tactics also work for anyone who can’t find a low Business Class fare and for those who don’t even have many American miles (and for this special report, United miles).
Same Approach—Applied to United’s Asia Routes
Our pitch: As we’ve been saying, forget about free mileage awards because they don’t earn elite credit, and it can be difficult to find award availability. Instead, use miles to upgrade because availability is much greater, and you earn miles and elite credit.
United’s Upgrade Program
To upgrade to Business Class to Asia, United requires 30,000 miles (except Central Asia, which requires 35,000), plus a co-pay of $600 each way on the lowest upgradeable economy fares (S, T, K, L, and G fare codes). When Business Class fares are high, using miles for an upgrade can offer a great return.
SAVE 51% ON HIGH-FARE ROUTES
Say you’re traveling Los Angeles-Tokyo, often an expensive Business
Class route, even when booked way in advance. The lowest United economy fare is currently $680, while Business Class is $3,796 ($3,116 more). So, even with the $1,200 co-pay, you can save 51% off the published fare by using miles. (See chart below for upgrade award availability survey.)
United.com screenshot showing fare difference between economy and Business Class + Upgrade Math:
LOWEST ECONOMY ROUTE ON UNITED SAVES 71%
San Francisco-Hong Kong is one of United’s lowest economy fare routes, currently starting at only $519 round-trip, while Business Class is $5,922. Even with the $1,200 co-pay, you can save 71% off the published fare by using miles.
United.com screenshot with 71% savings opportunity:
BRIDGE ROUTE CONNECTIONS CAN SAVE UP TO 57%
Smart travelers use the long-haul Business Class flight as a “bridge,” by focusing on getting a comfortable seat on the segment/s that matter most. All they have to do is get to and from the bridge gateway, in coach if the flight is short most are content with.
From the U.S., that means you might even buy an economy through-fare ticket, meaning the fare gets you to and from the international gateway on one ticket rather than multiple tickets. If space is available on the short segments, upgrade them all of course. The cost is the same either way.
Example: On New Orleans-Tokyo the through-fare ticket (via Washington, DC) costs $1,221 instead of $5,611 in Business Class. Even with the $1,200 co-pay, you save 57% off the published fare by using miles.
Use our survey below to have an idea of availability on the long-haul segment. Book New Orleans-Washington, D.C. in coach or First, as an example.
WHAT TO DO WHEN AN UPGRADE IS ONLY AVAILABLE ONE-WAY
United lets you combine coach and Business Class fares, so you can upgrade the flight-segment that has upgrade space and book the other leg in Business Class, if you want. On Chicago-Hong Kong, the combined coach-Business Class fare is $4,024 while round-trip Business Class is $7,310. So, even with the $600 one-way co-pay, you can still save 37% by using miles one-way.
TRAVELING ONWARD IN ASIA, BUT NOT ON UNITED?
It’s easy if you stick with United’s partners, and book the entire trip on one ticket, in coach or Business Class, and just upgrade the United Transpacific segment/s. Book the routeing in coach based on the availability of Business Class upgrades below.
All Nippon: Flights to other destinations in Asia from Tokyo include: Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, and Bangkok, plus 110 domestic routes.
Asiana: Flights from Seoul include: Phuket, Jakarta, Taipei, plus many other routes.
Air China: Destinations served from Beijing include: Xiamen, Okinawa, Guangzhou, plus 16 regional and 263 domestic routes.
Example of How You Can Fly Almost Anywhere
Say you want to fly from Washington, DC, to Manila. On United, that could mean making a connection in Tokyo. The through-fare is $844 in coach round-trip versus $5,945 in Business Class. You upgrade the bridge legs of the trip, Washington, DC,-Tokyo-Washington, DC: easy by using our cheat sheet to know the rough dates they are available. Even with the $1,200 co-pay (plus 60,000 miles), you can save 64% ($3,799) off the published fare by using miles. Note that the connecting leg (Tokyo-Manila) will be in economy on partner airline All Nippon.
United.com screenshot below.
HOW TO BOOK MILEAGE UPGRADES ON UNITED
Get a sense of availability date-clusters online (perhaps using our survey below).
- Confirm that the flights/dates you want are available for the upgrade using miles by requesting upgrade award space on the “All search options” page.
- Click on the “Upgrade type” search in the middle ofthe page.
- Select the “Buy Economy and upgrade” option to search for upgrade space to Business Class from economy in the “Fare preferences” section, after you click on “Upgrade type.” See below:
When your search result comes back, it will not only show fares and flight schedules, it will also show what flights offer an upgrade, and what the cost is.
Click on “Details” to find out if the upgrade space is available.
Select your flights, making sure that you are logged into your mileage account, and that you have the miles required in your account; then pay for your ticket.
This can all be done online.
HOW ANYONE CAN PLAY THIS UPGRADE GAME
Don’t have any or enough United miles? No problem. Just buy United miles when they go on sale (recent opportunity here), or transfer Starwood points to Marriott and redeem points with Marriott’s Travel Packages (for more information go here), or transfer points from Chase to United.
Sweet Redeem Survey: United Mileage Upgrades to Asia
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