Azul awards now bookable on United.com:
United partnered with Brazilian carrier Azul as they lost TAM to Oneworld. Azul’s CEO and founder is David Neeleman who also founded JetBlue and WestJet and brought that model (and his favorite color?) to Brazil.
Until now award flights had to be booked over the phone but they are now bookable on United.com and availability is incredible. I took a gander at nonstop flights from Sao Paulo to Iguassu Falls, Manaus, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, and Salvador and availability was perfect at the 12.5K domestic award level.
Later this year Azul will announce new routes between the US and Brazil, hopefully availability will be just as good!
For those keeping score at home here is the remaining list of United partners that must be booked over the phone:
-Brussels Airlines (Can sometimes be booked online)
-Cape Air
-Great Lakes Airlines
-Jet Airways
-LOT Polish (An excellent option with great availability in coach and business for flights to Israel)
-Shenzhen
-Singapore
And here’s the list of partners now bookable on United.com.:
-Adria Airlines
-Aegean Airlines
-Aer Lingus
-Air Canada
-Air China
-Air New Zealand
-ANA
-Asiana Airlines
-Austrian Airlines
-Avianca Airlines
-Azul Brazilian Airlines
-Copa Airlines
-Croatia Airlines
-Egyptair
-Ethiopian Airlines
-EVA Air
-Germanwings
-Hawaiian Airlines
-Island Air
-Lufthansa
-Scandinavian Airlines
-Shenzhen Airlines
-Silver Airways
-South African Airways
-Swiss International Airlines
-TAP Portugal
-THAI
-Turkish Airlines
USAirways award chart change:
Effective 08/01/14 you’ll need 65K miles to book a domestic first class flight on a plane with 3 classes of service.
That matches the rate that American charges.
Through 07/31 you can still snap up one of the great bargains of the USAirways chart, 50K miles for lie-flat first class on routes like:
-JFK to Los Angeles or S. Francisco on American’s A321T:
-Miami to Los Angeles on American’s 777-200 (777 Buenos Aires Trip Report here):
-JFK to Vancouver on Cathay Pacific’s 777-300ER (Vancouver Trip Report here):
The USAirways program will be rolled into the American program in 2015, but in the meantime you can still get 40,000 miles for opening the burnable USAirways credit card before it’s discontinued.
Other USAirways bargain routes as described in this post still remain in place.
You can also transfer Starpoints to USAirways at a 20K:25K ratio or AMEX points to USAirways via Air Canada at a 1K:840 ratio.
In other news, USAirways and American will start reciprocal upgrades on June 11th. That means free upgrades for all American elites flying on USAirways, free upgrades for USAirways Chairman’s members flying on American, and upgrades for purchase for lower tier USAirways elites flying on American.
Leave a Reply
18 Comments On "Azul Flights Now Bookable on United.com (And A List Of Other Partners Not Yet Bookable Online); USAirways Domestic First Award Going Up As Program Integration Continues"
All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.
Is there an option to book and cancel without redepositing the miles like united has?
Waiting for your post on the bluebird/walmart/vgc workaround…
@bubble347:
No.
@Dude:
Just hit cancel on the keypad as soon as you swipe to change payment method to debit.
Or use the ATM.
And the only way to look for availability on LOT is with ANA?
@Dan: i tried 6 walmart money machine. gift cards dont go through. even with PIN # set
@Dav:
Or Air Canada.
Or over the phone.
@Alex:
Then use the method above.
David Neeleman was NOT a founder of WestJet… just a consultant after we’d been up & running for a few years
What will happen if I book now a US award on the current chart and change dates after 8/1?
Perhaps marginally related:
Did United discontinue service between SFO and LIH. My ticket for January has been rerouted through LAX.
Shenzhen airlines is on both (phone only and united.com) lists.
@Max J:
Guess it’s time to fix this Wikipedia page 🙂
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azul_Brazilian_Airlines
(No I didn’t make it say that ;))
@meshugener:
Good question, beats me.
@reuvenhunt:
I’m still seeing it on the schedule, though just one per day.
@A:
Please show me a sample route/date showing Shenzhen award space.
When booking a rewards ticket thru united on LOT do you pay just mile or is it miles plus cash?
When applying for the US airways Barclay card, How much are they looking for in annual income?
most availibility to IGU is from VCP. is hard to get to that airport without a car
New to site- Tried searching US Air to LA and Israel from NYC but can’t find direct and partner flights as you mentioned (via AA) any assistance would be appreciated. When selecting option for miles it only shows flights by US AIR. Also does it make sense to open the Barclays card for 40K miles? What attracted me is the companion $99 tkt. Will I be able to use it on AA?
@Biniomin:
True, Though Azul flies to 10-20 destinations from GRU. Plus for people coming from somewhere else, its just a quick stopover and you can continue on to next destino.
looking for flight tlv lax july 3 return july 14
Dan,
Is there a way to pay for a ticket on South African Airways via united.com and then upgrade with united miles? What’s the best way to do this? Or, do you have any tips on flying from JFK to JNB in biz class using miles?
Please let me know your thoughts.
Thanks!