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Nonstop saver business class award space between North America and Tel Aviv has been a true unicorn since Israel reopened from COVID. However looking into 2024, there’s some United award and upgrade space, though most is reserved for United’s top elite members. Note that sample dates below include flights that are over Shabbos, so Shabbos observers should take note before booking.
Sample business saver award space (You can also connect from other cities to these flights on the same award ticket):
Newark to Tel Aviv:
- January 29 (1 seat for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, 1 upgrade seat for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- January 30 (No seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, no upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- February 5 (No seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, no upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- February 6 (No seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, no upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- February 20 (2 seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, 2 upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
Tel Aviv to Newark:
- January 19 (2 seats for all members, 2 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, 2 upgrade seats for all members, 2 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- January 20 (No seats for all members, 1 saver award seat available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, 1 upgrade seat for all members, 1 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- January 22 (No seats for all members, 4 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, no upgrade seats for all members, 4 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- January 26 (1 seat for all members, 1 saver award seat available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, 1 upgrade seat for all members, 1 upgrade seat for GS elites)
- February 13 (No seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, no upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- February 16 (No seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, no upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- February 23 (At least 9 seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, at least 9 upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- March 8 (2 seats for all members, 2 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, 2 upgrade seats for all members, 2 upgrade seats for GS elites)
San Francisco to Tel Aviv:
- November 23 (No seats for all members, 2 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, no upgrade seats for all members, 2 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- January 1 (2 seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, 7 upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- January 22 (At least 9 seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, at least 9 upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- January 29 (At least 9 seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, at least 9 upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- January 30 (No seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, no upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- February 5 (At least 9 seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, at least 9 upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- February 6 (No seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, no upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- February 12 (At least 9 seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, at least 9 upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- February 13 (No seats for all members, 4 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, no upgrade seats for all members, 4 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- February 19 (At least 9 seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, at least 9 upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- February 20 (No seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, no upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- February 26 (6 seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, at least 9 upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- February 27 (No seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, no upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- March 4 (4 seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, at least 9 upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
Tel Aviv to San Francisco:
- January 11 (No seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, no upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- January 18 (No seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, no upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
- January 31 (No seats for all members, at least 9 saver award seats available for Platinum/1K/GS elites, no upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites)
United’s Tel Aviv flights operate with Polaris seating that have direct aisle access for every business class seat. You can choose from solo seats or seats for people traveling together.
Business class seats include United’s newly launched Polaris business class service with Saks Fifth Avenue bedding and pillows. Savvy travelers will also request a Saks Fifth Avenue mattress pad, slippers, and pajamas, as those are not proactively offered by flight attendants as there aren’t enough of them for everyone.
Upgrade awards:
You can always waitlist for an upgrade award, but the dates above have flights that are confirmable now by calling United.
If you have a paid ticket, the cost of an upgrade varies based on your ticket’s fare class as follows:
In other words, it will cost 35K United miles plus $600 for a one-way upgrade from most discounted coach tickets to business class.
Business saver class award booking options:
- You can transfer miles from Chase Ultimate Rewards to United (1:1 ratio) instantly. United charges 42.5K one-way in coach or 75K one-way in business class for United flights to Israel. United now also charges 1,500-3,000 extra miles for tickets bought close-in to the flight date. United never collects fuel surcharges. Awards can be cancelled for free up to the time of departure.
- You can also redeem 75K United miles for business class even when there is only coach available. Read this post for how to do that via “Plan B”.
- Having a Chase United card greatly expands the saver award space that you can book. United.com only shows the lowest available award rate when you’re logged in, so a cardholder may see a 42.5K rate while a non-cardholder will see the 95K standard rate. Cardholders also have the ability to book the last seat available in any class with Standard/Everyday awards.
- Learn more about rapidly accumulating Ultimate Rewards points here.
- Air Canada Aeroplan charges 40K in coach or 70K in business class one-way. There are no fuel surcharges for United flights. Points transfer instantly (1:1 ratio) from AMEX, Capital One, or Chase. Transfers from Marriott (60K:25K ratio) can take 2-20 days.
- Avianca Lifemiles charges 42.5K in coach or 78K in business class one-way. There are no fuel surcharges for any flights. Points transfer instantly (1:1 ratio) from AMEX, Capital One, or Citi. Transfers from Marriott (60K:25K ratio) can take 2-20 days.
- Aegean charges 35K miles in coach or 55K miles in business class one-way. They don’t charge fuel surcharges for United flights. Transfers from Marriott (60K:25K ratio) can take 2-20 days.
- Turkish charges a mere 32K miles in coach or 47K miles in business class one-way. They don’t charge fuel surcharges for United flights. Transfers from Capital One (1:1) are instant, while transfers from Citi (1:1 ratio) take about a day and transfers from Marriott (60K:25K ratio) can take 2-5 days. See directions for how to search for award space here.
- Singapore charges 45K in coach or 76.5K in business class one-way. There are no fuel surcharges for United awards. You can transfer points from AMEX and Capital One instantly or transfers from Chase or Citi take a day at a 1:1 ratio, but it will take about day for points to show up. Transfers from Marriott (60K:25K ratio) can take 2-20 days.
- ANA charges 65K miles in coach or 104K miles in business class round-trip, one-way awards aren’t available. There are no fuel surcharges for United awards. It can take 1-2 days to transfer points from AMEX to ANA (1:1 ratio) and transfers from Marriott to ANA (60K:25K ratio) can take 2-20 days.
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27 Comments On "Rare United Polaris Business Class Saver Award And Upgrade Space Nonstop Between Newark Or San Francisco And Tel Aviv!"
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By checking on the seat map it doesn’t show which seats are for solo or for couple , how can I know that ?
https://www.aerolopa.com/ua-boeing-78j
Most of these are Fridays, no?
See the first paragraph 🙂
My bad. I’m used to your regular template that says it’s exciting when non shabbos dates open up
Pre-COVID those were often wide open. Since COVID they have also become unicorns.
Now that I am trying to piece together a trip using UR and Amex, I am finding it hard to find United flights on the partners’ mileage programs. I am looking at dates after Tisha Bav. United has direct flights to Israel but partners aren’t showing them at the rates you mention above. Also, they seem to be giving routes through their hub cities such as YYZ for AC and IST for Turkish.
I tried other routes such as through Europe and am having the same problem. And Air France is only routing through CDG.
Please explain what I am doing wrong.
Thank you in advance.
Airlines can only book partner flights when they have Saver Award space available. The dates that you are looking for are in high demand and airlines are therefore unlikely to release saver award space to their partners. In that case, the only flights you will see are on that airlines own metal, and they will be priced dynamically at higher rates.
Also, to book partner awards thru Turkish there is a separate search page from the regular award search.
Thank you for clarifying.
Whats the separate search page you’re referring in regards to booking awards through Turkish?
https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-int/miles-and-smiles/account/book-star-award-tickets/
Ewr to tlv on2/20 no seats for regular members
I am totally lost. Wish to fly from TPA-TLV R/T in biz on United. I don’t have status. Can I do this? If so, I am willing to pay somebody to walk me through this? I have UR and United miles. Email me (my spam address but I will see if you are legit) at tampaone@gmail.com
looks like the party ended
if united changes the schedule. can I reschedule for 7 days or only for 24 hours within my flight?
Depends on how big of a schedule change it is.
when can u change within 7 days?
@Dan, when are you going to cover PlusPoints?
https://www.dansdeals.com/?s=PlusPoints
anecdotally how does AA systemwide upgrade aviability compare to UA PP upgrades?
So if I have Chase UR points from my Business Cash Ink card then I can transfer them to my Sapphire Preferred card and then to my United Explorer MileagePlus card?
Yes, but to your United MileagePlus account, not to your United Explorer card
Got it. Do they charge fees or points for any of those transactions?
No fees.
Business class for 75k one way?
Where are you seeing those prices?
I see only from at least 200k each way?
Hi, Dan. I have booked a trip to Ewr – Prague – Tlv -Ewr. 2 nights in tlv Hilton, 6 nights in Waldorf. My trip to Prg is United with an 1:25 stopover in Brussels. Is that enough time for a stopover or is it cutting to close. I’ve never been to Brussels, but I don’t think that it is a large airport.
Perfectly fine.