Bad news for anyone who wants to book awards to the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, the Maldives, and even Europe with United miles.

United's relationship with Qatar Airways ends September 14. Tickets booked by then can include Qatar segments up to 337 days out or so, which is generally how far in advance you can book United awards.

I've been on a Dreamliner kick the last few days. This is the last post on the topic for a while. I just had to share two even cheaper ways to get on one of United's Dreamliners on a BusinessFirst bed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJEA3JQA_FM&feature=player_embedded

I always chuckle at that video. "You got an upgrade. And the seats go completely flat."

Upgrades are mainly a domestic phenomenon. Flat seats are mostly an international phenomenon.

Yesterday, I wrote about the United Dreamliners' domestic routes being announced for this fall, and how you can score six and a half hours of flying on one of its beds for only 25k United miles.

I advised locking up space yesterday--reserving not purchasing--because today was the day United said its schedule would be updated to reflect the aircraft change, and I was worried United wouldn't offer space on the Dreamliner flights.

Well today I went to united.com to see if space is still available.

United recently acquired several Boeing 787 Dreamliners and announced the first international routes that will be serviced by the plane.

But before those routes start, United will fly the plane between its domestic hubs. The very first flights haven't been announced, but United did release the routes the planes will fly between November 4 and March 31. (H/T Mommy Points.)

To me, this is huge news.

Some people are plane enthusiasts. They'll do anything to fly the new mega-jet A380, which I'll be doing in Qantas business in January. Or one of the new Dreamliners, which United's taking more deliveries of and releasing the routes they'll operate on.

This is another post in my Anatomy of an Award series, in which I take a real award I’ve booked and break it down step-by-step to elucidate the award booking process.

Sometimes airlines have seemingly interminable hold times before you can talk to an agent. This mainly happens during disruptions to the normal routine like a big storm that is causing a ton of rebookings or the United/Continental merger.

Here are some tricks to lower or eliminate your hold times:

1) Call the highest tier elite line. Elite lines are answered immediately or with a much reduced wait time.

If you're a top-tier elite, I'm sure you're already doing this.

Per the LA Times, the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner routes will be:

Houston (IAH) to Amsterdam (AMS) starting December 4

Houston (IAH) to London (LHR) starting February 4

Los Angeles (LAX) to Tokyo (NRT) starting January 3

Los Angeles (LAX) to Shanghai (PVG) starting March 30

These are in addition to the already announced:

Denver (DEN) to Tokyo (NRT)

Houston (IAH) to Lagos (LOS)

Despite the announcement, united.com has not been updated to show the new aircraft on the routes.

I stumbled upon the news while researching a post about getting an award on the Dreamliner.

Also while researching the

This is another post in my Anatomy of an Award series, in which I take a real award I’ve booked and break it down step-by-step to elucidate the award booking process.

Anyone without United status is charged a hefty $75 fee to book an award within 21 days of departure. There are two tricks to reduce or eliminate this fee.

Trick 1- Transfer your Ultimate Rewards to a Status-ful spouse's United account

Ultimate Rewards can be transferred to your United account or your spouse's.