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Update October 5, 2013: United has cancelled this one-off route, but there are other opportunities to get on this flight domestically.

United’s 787 Dreamliner will fly a single roundtrip from Seattle to Houston over with perfect flight times for this Thanksgiving.

How can you get on the Dreamliner on a domestic flight for far less than an international flight?

There’s currently only Standard (double-price) award space on the flight in both directions.

That means a roundtrip on a flat bed would set you back 100k United miles. It also means the space is only bookable with United miles and not with partner airline miles.

Since 100k United miles is the same price as a roundtrip from Seattle to Europe in flat bed business class, I think it is a pretty awful deal.

The better way to get into business class is to buy cash economy tickets on the flights–which are the cheapest available at $383–and upgrade with status or a paid upgrade offered online or at the airport.

The United Dreamliner has 36 business class beds, so I would expect upgrades to be more plentiful than on a normal Seattle to Houston flight.

I certainly don’t expect all 36 beds to be sold, so there’s a chance United may open up award space in the last few days before the flights. (For how good that chance is, see Will You Find Last Minute Award Space? Here’s How to Estimate Your Chances.)

If award space opens up, you can get it for as little as 20k Singapore miles roundtrip as discussed in Flat Beds on Two Dreamliner Flights for 20k Points. If you have ExpertFlyer, you can set an award alert to let you know if space opens up.

Is anyone going to try to fly these flights?




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