United Airlines currently has a lot of Business Class Saver Award availability through the end of 2022. Flights are available from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver, in most cases with availability of 2 seats or more. (you/t: Thrifty Traveler Premium)
I am a devoted Japanophile. It’s one of my favorite places on earth, so my ears always brighten up when I hear rumors of good business class availability. In this case it is not only good, but also fantastic. Japanese borders are closed to visitors until the end of February, so this may seem like a tricky time to plan travel, but it’s likely that once the Omicron wave is hit, tourism will reopen again. While it can be a gamble to get to Sakura in March, it seems much more likely to be open for the summer and fall foliage season when the whole country becomes a multicolored wonderland.
United is currently showing availability for all three cities from March 4 through the end of the year. All three flights will be operated with 787-9s, but the LAX flight is the only one reliably equipped with the new 23-inch-wide Polaris direct-access aisle seat and Saks bedding, a major upgrade from the older one. aircraft that often fly out of DEN and SFO.
How to book
You can search for open dates by month by looking directly on UA’s website and selecting ‘flexible dates’, or you can search an entire year at a time using chair spy.
If you recently signed up for the United Miles Quest card or are planning to add the United Business Card to the 150,000 point offer Nick wrote about recently, you may have United Miles to spend. If so, burn them and grab them by United for 70,000 each way. But the real magic happens when you book the same United seats with ANA.
Compared to United’s 140,000 round trip price (or 150,000 with Aeroplan), ANA only charges 85,000 round trip miles for…