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United miles are the best to Europe, though the routes with gold mine award space for Summer 2015 might surprise you. For Summer 2014, I wrote Route from the US to Europe via Canada for Better Award Space, and I decided to check back in on some of our old favorite routes to see if they were again gold mines for 2015.
The answer is a resounding yes. For next summer, there are a number of Air Canada routes with award space for two people every day, often with 2 award seats in economy and 2 in business.
Routing through Canada is actually a shorter trip than connecting in the United States because the direct flights from most of the United States to Canada pass over Canada. According to the Great Circle Mapper, routing through Calgary only adds about 100 miles and Toronto about 300 miles over the direct Los Angeles to London flight.
Air Canada award space is searchable and bookable on united.com with no fuel surcharges. It is easy to connect to the space form the United States on Air Canada or United flights. Air Canada Business Class varies slightly by aircraft, but always features a fully flat bed at least 6’3″ long and always features at least some rows where all seats have direct aisle access.
- Which routes from Canada to Europe have award space for two passengers every day this summer?
- How many United miles are required to book from the United States to Europe in economy and Business Class?
- How can you book these awards (with one trick to make things easier if necessary)?
The Award Space
This is the worst award space I’ll show you. Lufthansa’s Montreal to Munich flight “only” has award space 3-5 days per week this summer for two passengers in economy. On most North American routes to Europe this summer, this would be considered excellent, but for the purposes of this post, this is very little award space.
Look at Toronto to London for example. There are two award seats on at least one of Air Canada’s four daily flights every day in June in July. In July, we start to see a glut of Business Class space for two passengers also.
And many days feature award space on all four flights, so you have plenty of options for a convenient connection.
Montreal to Geneva on Air Canada’s direct daily flight also has award space for two passengers every day with 22/61 days in June and July offering two Business Class seats.
Booking the Space
United charges:
- 30k miles each way to Europe in economy
- 70k miles each way to Europe in partner Business Class like Air Canada Business Class
A pair of travelers are looking at somewhere between 120,000 and 280,000 miles total for their roundtrips from the United States to Europe, depending on how much Business Class they choose to fly. Routing through Europe doesn’t add extra miles to the price.
Air Canada award space is searchable and bookable on united.com though united.com isn’t always the best at showing all options when your itinerary requires a connection.
If united.com cannot find a way to get from your home airport to Europe when you type that in to the search box, that does not mean your goal is impossible. Either hire the MileValue Award Booking Service to put your trip together or perform segment-by-segment searches on your own.
As a quick refresher, you’d check for award space from your home airport to the transatlantic gateway, the transatlantic segment, and any intra-Europe flights separately and then piece the together into one legal award, completing the booking over the phone.
Connection Options
Check wikipedia. From Montreal, for example, Air Canada flies to Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Fort Myers, Miami, Tampa, West Palm Beach, Boston, Chicago, Newark, New York, and Washington DC.
United adds connections from some of its hubs.
Anywhere in the United States is at most two short flights from Montreal and all of its award space.
Bottom Line
Right now, you can book incredible award space for 2+ people with United miles. Conveniently route via Canada to Europe and enjoy a dream vacation in economy or Business Class.
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You should also mention that Air Canada only charges 90,000 miles Roundtrip in Business class, and that Aeroplan is a transfer partner of AmEx MR. There are fuel charges, but the miles price is MUCH cheaper than UA.
Good tip.
US citizens should be sure they’re permitted to enter Canada, which they aren’t if they have a conviction for, among other things, drinking and driving.
Boy is this bang on. I just booked ewr-yyz-ist/vce-bru-yul-ewr. for the end of the summer using ANA miles in Business class (85000)and with one exception, every flight was on Air Canada. Then turned around and Purchased a second seat for my wife with the exact same itinerary, and the cost was almost $800 less than the UA equivalent.
What is gold mine award space?
There’s SO MUCH that it’s easy to find.
[…] This is in addition to the gold mine award routes to Europe for next summer that I discussed Tuesday. […]