Unicorn United Polaris Business Class Saver Award And Upgrade Space Nonstop From Newark To Tel Aviv From Just 53.8K Miles!

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Update: All of the saver award space described in this post has been booked, congrats to those who grabbed it! Limited upgrade space remains on some flights.

Nonstop saver business class award space on US carriers between North America and Tel Aviv have been a true unicorn since Israel reopened from COVID and even more so post October 7th.

However there are a couple of dates with Newark to Tel Aviv business class saver award and upgrade space. This won’t last long!

• July 22 UA84: At least 9 business class saver award seats and upgrade seats for all members (I9/IN9/PN9/PZ9).
• July 22 UA90: At least 9 business class saver award seats and upgrade seats for all members (I9/IN9/PN9/PZ9).
• July 29 UA84: At least 9 business class saver award seats and upgrade seats for all members (I9/IN9/PN9/PZ9).
• July 29 UA90: 6 business class saver award seats for all members, 7 upgrade seats for all members, at least 9 upgrade seats for GS elites (I6/IN6/PN9/PZ7).

Note that the July 22 flights arrive into Israel on 17 Tamuz. Find in-flight zmanim here.

Business class passengers have access to United’s excellent Polaris lounge, which features several kosher mevushal wine options, gourmet fresh hot food from Fresko, shower suites, quiet suites, and more.

United’s business class meals from Newark feature what is likely the best kosher food in the sky, with a choice of delicious fresh meals catered by Fresko.

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. Sadly, United has cut pajamas from this route, so you’ll want to bring your own. Be sure to request a mattress pad from a flight attendant, as these aren’t provided at the seat and 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 40K one-way in coach or 80K one-way in business class for United flights to Israel United never collects fuel surcharges.
  • Awards can be canceled for free up to the time of departure.
  • You can also redeem 80K 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 40K rate while a non-cardholder will see a 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.
  • You can get a 20% bonus on transfers from Chase through 7/31, dropping the coach cost to 33.3K Chase points or the business class cost to 58.3K Chase points.
  • Air Canada cardholders get a stackable 10% transfer bonus on 50K+ transfers from Chase, up to 25K bonus points per calendar year. Cardholders can get an effective 30% bonus on transfers from Chase through 7/31, dropping the coach cost to 30.7K Chase points or the business class cost to 53.8K Chase points.
  • Awards can be changed for C$100 or canceled for C$150 up to the time of departure.

• Avianca Lifemiles charges 42.5K in coach or 78K in business class one-way. Pay for a Lite subscription and you’ll get a 10% rebate. Pay for a Basic subscription and you’ll get free cancelations, which can cost up to $200. 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 is no longer the insane bargain it used to be. They now charge a 58K miles (up from 32K) in coach or 93K miles (up from 47K) 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 52K in coach or 88K 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 70K miles in coach or 130K 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.

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a 60K signup bonus for spending $4K in 3 months, earns 2.1 points per dollar on travel after the card's 10% anniversary bonus, 3.1 points per dollar on dining, streaming, and online groceries after the card's 10% anniversary bonus, has a $50 hotel credit, can transfer all Chase points into miles, and points are worth at least 1.25 cents each for paid travel ($95 annual fee). Read more here.
• Chase Sapphire Reserve® has a 60K signup bonus for spending $4K in 3 months, earns 3 points per dollar on dining/travel, has a $300 travel credit, can transfer all Chase points into miles, and points are worth at least 1.5 cents each for paid travel ($550 annual fee with $300 travel credit). Read more here.
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card has a 90K signup bonus for spending $8K in 3 months, and earns 3 points per dollar on up to $150K of annual spending on shipping, advertising, and travel, can transfer all Chase points into miles, and points are worth at least 1.25 cents each for paid travel ($95 annual fee). Read more here.

• Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card has a $750 signup bonus in the form of 75K points for spending $6K in 3 months, and earns 1.5 points per dollar on business purchases ($0 annual fee). Read more here.
• Ink Business Cash® Credit Card has a $350 signup bonus in the form of 35K points for spending $3K in 3 months and another $400 signup bonus in the form of 40K bonus points for spending another $3K in 6 months for a total of 75,000 Chase Ultimate points, plus if you have a Chase business checking account open on the card's first anniversary you will get a 10% points bonus on all earnings from card spending, this card earns 5 points per dollar on the first $25,000 in combined purchases on cable, TV, telecom, cellular, and office supply stores, plus 2 points per dollar on dining and gas on up to $25,000 in purchases ($0 annual fee). Read more here.
• Chase Freedom Flex has a 20K signup bonus, plus 5 points on rotating categories, 5 points per dollar on travel purchased through Chase Travel, and 3 points per dollar on dining and drugstores ($0 annual fee). Read more here.
• Chase Freedom Unlimited® has a signup bonus that earns an extra 1.5% cash back in the form of 1.5 points per dollar everywhere on up to $20K of spending during your first year, on top of at least 1.5 points per dollar everywhere, 5 points per dollar (marketed as 5% cash back) on travel purchased through  Chase Travel℠, and 3 points per dollar on dining and drugstores ($0 annual fee). Read more here.

Will you book any of this unicorn award space?

HT: Ly18, via DDF