FirstClassFlyer

FCF’s magnifying glass spots cracks in United’s evolving award pricing: Discover the routes that can save you up to 53% off

Have you seen United’s ridiculously high evolving award prices? Don’t get me started. Oh wait, I’m writing this special report all about it. So I am going to get started.

In the past, United Airlines’ Business Class award trips to Europe typically used to cost only 60,000 miles one-way, but now they are double or even triple that. It’s hard to book affordable premium flights to Europe these days and demoralizing to keep looking for uninflated awards using your miles. It takes time, effort, and generally, anguish.

What the Heck, United?!

So if you’re someone who often transfers points to United miles (many get Chase cards to transfer points to United miles), you should read this special report before paying United’s gouge award rates. (By the way, transferring Chase points to Hyatt points can frequently net you 3¢+ of value per point at high-end hotels.)

Unsold Surplus Seats, Generous Wholesale Prices

Generally speaking, most flights to Europe are full right now, but the sheer number of flights across the pond means it’s inevitable that some haven’t sold out. You just have to look closely to find them. Do you have the time to do that? Probably not. But if there are golden needles in that haystack, you know we’ll find them for you.

And That’s Just What We Did

They may lose the occasional tussle with a cat, but FCF’s team of truffle hounds have analyzed flight lists and sniffed out some treasures for you. Here’s the scope of our survey:

Scope of FCF’s July 2022 United & Partner Discount Award Survey

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Nowadays, if you’re not careful or not reading FCF’s special reports, plan on paying up to 155,000 miles for Business Class one-way to Europe. However, on 29 routes with eight Star Alliance partner airlines, FCF’s team found one-ways for as low as 73,000 United miles — saving you ~53%. See FCF’s cheat sheet here:

United & Star Alliance partner Treasure Map of Low-Priced Business Class Seats

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[["Airline","# of Routes FCF Surveyed","# of Routes FCF Found with Low-Cost Availability"],["United","62","1"],["Air Canada","29","10"],["Austrian","4","3"],["Brussels Airlines","3","2"],["LOT","4","1"],["Lufthansa","33","3"],["SAS","8","0"],["SWISS","11","4"],["TAP","6","5"]]

[["Fly On","Route","Cost One-way with United Miles","Outbound","#colspan#","#colspan#","Return","#colspan#","#colspan#"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","4 to 8 Days Per Month","9 to 12 Days Per Month","13+ Days Per Month","4 to 8 Days Per Month","9 to 12 Days Per Month","13+ Days Per Month"],["United","Boston-London","60,000-75,000","April<\/span>","","Sept. to March<\/span>","April<\/span>","Oct.<\/span>","Sept., Nov. to March<\/span>"],["Air Canada","Montreal-Barcelona","77,000","","April","","","April",""],["#rowspan#","Montreal-Frankfurt","#rowspan#","Jan., March<\/span>","Jan., Feb.<\/span>","","Jan., March<\/span>","March<\/span>","Jan., Feb.<\/span>"],["#rowspan#","Montreal-Geneva","#rowspan#","Feb., March, April<\/span>","","","","March","Feb., April<\/span>"],["#rowspan#","Montreal-Lisbon","#rowspan#","April","","","","April",""],["#rowspan#","Montreal-London","#rowspan#","","March<\/span>","","","March<\/span>","March"],["#rowspan#","Montreal-Paris","#rowspan#","Feb.","","March, April<\/span>","","","March, April<\/span>"],["#rowspan#","Toronto-Amsterdam","#rowspan#","April","Oct.","","Oct.<\/span>","April",""],["#rowspan#","Toronto-Barcelona","#rowspan#","April","","","","April",""],["#rowspan#","Toronto-London","#rowspan#","Oct., Nov., Feb., March<\/span>","March<\/span>","","Nov.","Oct., Nov., March<\/span>","March<\/span>"],["#rowspan#","Toronto-Paris","#rowspan#","Feb., March<\/span>","March","","March<\/span>","","Feb."],["Austrian","Chicago-Vienna","77,000","Aug., Feb., March<\/span>","","Jan.<\/span>","Aug.,<\/span> Nov.<\/span>","Sept., Dec., Jan., Feb.<\/span>","Jan., Feb., March<\/span>"],["#rowspan#","New York-Vienna","#rowspan#","March<\/span>","Feb.,<\/span> March<\/span>","Jan.,<\/span> March","Sept.,<\/span> Nov., Dec.<\/span>","Dec.","Jan. to March<\/span>"],["#rowspan#","Washington, DC-Vienna","#rowspan#","Aug.,<\/span> Jan.,<\/span> Feb.<\/span>","Aug.","","Sept.,<\/span> Nov., Dec., March<\/span>","Dec., Jan., Feb.,<\/span> March<\/span>","Feb., March<\/span>"],["Brussels","New York-Brussels","75,000","Nov., Dec.<\/span>","","Jan. to May<\/span>","Nov., Dec.<\/span>","Dec.","Jan. to May<\/span>"],["#rowspan#","Washington, DC-Brussels","#rowspan#","March, May<\/span>","April, <\/span>May","April","March<\/span>","","April, May<\/span>"],["LOT","New York-Warsaw","77,000","Aug., Sept., Oct.,<\/span> Nov., Feb.,<\/span> March","Nov., Feb.<\/span>","Jan.<\/span>","Oct.,<\/span> Nov., Dec.,<\/span> April,<\/span> May","Oct., Dec., Jan., March<\/span>","Nov., Feb.<\/span>"],["Lufthansa","Atlanta-Frankfurt","77,000","Nov., Dec.<\/span>","Nov.<\/span>","","Dec.<\/span>","Dec.<\/span>","Nov.<\/span>"],["#rowspan#","Charlotte-Munich","#rowspan#","Aug., Oct., Dec.<\/span>","Nov.<\/span>","","Nov., Dec.<\/span>","Nov.<\/span>",""],["#rowspan#","Detroit-Frankfurt","#rowspan#","Aug.,<\/span> Oct.","Nov.<\/span>","","Oct., Nov.<\/span>","Nov.",""],["SWISS","Boston-Zurich","73,000","Oct., Jan., Feb.,<\/span> March<\/span>","","","Nov.<\/span>","Oct.,<\/span> Nov., Jan., Feb., March<\/span>","Dec.,<\/span> Feb.<\/span>"],["#rowspan#","Montreal-Zurich","#rowspan#","Dec.<\/span>","Dec.,<\/span> April<\/span>","Nov., Jan. to March<\/span>","March<\/span>","Nov., Jan., Feb.<\/span>","Nov.<\/span>"],["#rowspan#","New York-Geneva","#rowspan#","Jan., Feb., March<\/span>","Feb.<\/span>","","Aug., Oct.<\/span>","Sept.,<\/span> Oct.,<\/span> Dec., Jan.<\/span>","Nov., Feb., March<\/span>"],["#rowspan#","Toronto-Zurich","82,500","Dec. to March<\/span>","","","Dec. to Feb.<\/span>","",""],["TAP","Boston-Lisbon","77,000","Sept., Nov., Dec.<\/span>","Sept.","Aug., Jan. to May<\/span>","Sept., Oct.<\/span>","Jan., April, May<\/span>","Aug., Nov., Dec.,<\/span> Jan.,<\/span> Feb., March<\/span>"],["#rowspan#","Chicago-Lisbon","#rowspan#","Jan., March<\/span>","Feb.<\/span>","","Jan., March, May<\/span>","Feb.<\/span>",""],["#rowspan#","Miami-Lisbon","#rowspan#","Jan., May<\/span>","April<\/span>","Feb., March<\/span>","April, May<\/span>","Jan. to March<\/span>",""],["#rowspan#","New York-Lisbon","#rowspan#","Dec.<\/span>","April<\/span>","Jan. to March, May<\/span>","","April<\/span>","Jan. to March, May<\/span>"],["#rowspan#","Washington, DC-Lisbon","#rowspan#","Nov., April<\/span>","May<\/span>","Jan. to March<\/span>","Sept., Oct.<\/span>","Sept., Nov.<\/span>","Nov.,<\/span> Dec. to May<\/span>"]]