Questions and Answers

A few months back I booked UA IAD-DXB direct for an April flight in J (Saver, 70K Miles)– for two of us. Then last month UA announced termination of IAD-DXB, so I was rebooked IAD-FRA-DXB in J. I noticed a lot of close-in availability for F opening up, but up until the end of March, the second leg was operated by a 747-400 with no F. My second leg was on an A330 with F. Unfortunately, as the days have been passing, they keep changing more and more of the equipment, so that there are no days (or very few) where the second leg is operated on an aircraft with a F cabin. Today I found that the dreaded equipment change had occurred on my flight, so that now it’ll be on a 747-400 with no F. I find it pretty lame that they initially show the flights with F availability and then consistently change them to flights with no F availability, but that’s really beside the point.

I had been considering upgrading (presuming availability opens up) to F for this flight. This will be my first international flight, and throughout the rest of the trip (DXB-MLE-IST-SFO), I’ll be flying in Y and J for sure. But the cost would be an extra 70K miles and $225 per person (factoring change fees and close-in booking fees), and we would only get F from IAD-FRA. I’d like to try the FCT, too, but just can’t determine whether this is a good deal, or whether there might be a better or cheaper option (I don’t mind the $450 at all, just the mileage usage). Me and GF have about 200K UR points apiece, and I also have 60K TY points. Eventually we want to try Singapore suites, and for our destination it looks to be about 385K miles RT.

It seems lame to me too that whether one or both legs are in F, it still costs 140K miles. :-p
Thanks!
Joe

IAD-FRA is not long enough for 70K expenditure.If you are not going to continue in F, I am not sure what the restrictions on FCT would be. LH F is great. I’ve been on 2 legs, but I would not throw away 140K for 1 leg that is not even 8 hrs.
Also, IAD-FRA is a 747-8 in which I like the Biz class quite well. It is not top notch by any means but still gives an elegant feel. The upper deck is slightly narrower, but more private.
For my needs, I would not do that. Your goals could be different. I think it is a very personal call.

[USER=1453]@novelist1985[/USER] I would second what [USER=522]@PhatMiles[/USER] recommends. Ultimately you have to prioritize your needs but I wouldn’t spend that many resources for a single relatively short leg.

[QUOTE=”PhatMiles, post: 12209, member: 522″]IAD-FRA is not long enough for 70K expenditure.If you are not going to continue in F, I am not sure what the restrictions on FCT would be. LH F is great. I’ve been on 2 legs, but I would not throw away 140K for 1 leg that is not even 8 hrs.
Also, IAD-FRA is a 747-8 in which I like the Biz class quite well. It is not top notch by any means but still gives an elegant feel. The upper deck is slightly narrower, but more private.
For my needs, I would not do that. Your goals could be different. I think it is a very personal call.[/QUOTE]

Cool, thanks for the recommendation. FCT access is available to those who fly into FRA on F and are departing same-day LH Y or J.

So this makes it tough…. surprised to find F availability for two legs, but flying through MUC instead of FRA, and on A330’s instead of 747-8 and 747-4. Flight gets in a little later via MUC, and the flights are both redeye— don’t know what to expect in F in terms of meals for such flights— (VS my current J is an afternoon flight). 140K and $500 for the two of us to change. Worth it???