London/DEN, DEN/CPH

We can book flights from London to Denver (Lufthansa) leaving London May 9, 2015 at 4:20 (there are other flights but this one would work best) and then for a different trip Denver to CPH on September 8, 2015 on United. Both flights would be booked through the United web site as one booking. I can upgrade the London flight to business with points. It cost the same whether I book a one-way (about $2,032) and use points (20,000) to upgrade to business class or book both flights (about $2,000) and use points to upgrade the London flight. I'm guessing there is no problem even though the ending flight is in Copenhagen and is 4 months later. Both are for transatlantic cruises at different times. I have additional United points but want to use them for two other people who are traveling with us to CPH. I think I can get them two FF flights DEN to CPH. I would have to book those flights separately. Is there any problem for booking for other people (a sister and her friend) on my points, or would I have to "gift" the points to them individually? I could call United but figured someone here would know. Thank you!

Just book for them using your miles out of your account. If you "gift" them the miles, very high out-of-pocket costs are involved.

Note for LH flights, to upgrade from economy to business, you must book in Y, B or J class which are full fare economy tickets.

Thank you both for the replies. I'll follow your advice and book the extra flights without gifting the miles. For the London to Denver flight, I typed wrong--it is a United flight, not Lufthansa. The Lufthansa flight is DEN to CPH. I still have to pay an extra $550 in order to get business class, but the total ticket price (London/Den, DEN/CPH) is around $2,000 (that includes the $550) plus 20,000 miles. If I book a one-way United London to Denver flight, with no upgrades, it is $2,032! I could always go Iceland Air London/DEN for around $600 one-way Economy, but that would entail an extra night in London which we don't want to do. Our other option is use all my points for business class one-way London to Denver and then take Iceland Air DEN to CPH Economy $1,752 ($438 per ticket) for 4 tickets. Oh wait--that might make more sense!! $4,000 vs. $1,752 (actually $4,000 vs. $2,152 because the taxes on the "free" flights are $200pp from London)!! Now that I have thought it out, it is way cheaper to use points for business class (130,000 points) and then pay for the Iceland Air. What was I thinking!!! Thanks again!

Ooops...Minor issue - I underestimated the points needed for business class. I went with Economy Plus on United for 30,000 points each London to DEN via Dulles one-way. I got the 4:20 flight that I wanted. We'll be okay with that. May have enough points to consider the Lufthansa DEN to CPH flights; otherwise, Iceland Air here we come. But again, thanks for listening :-)

Just FYI...the DEN to CPH trip is not a nonstop, and it may involve a codeshare flight on one leg or another.

Either it's DEN-YYZ (Toronto) on a United plane ("metal") and YYZ-CPH on Air Canada (a 787, nice).

Or, DEN-FRA-CPH on LH metal for both flights. Either or both legs are available as UA codeshares. Sounds like you're doing LH for both legs.

Ooops...Minor issue - I underestimated the points needed for business class. I went with Economy Plus on United for 30,000 points each London to DEN via Dulles one-way. I got the 4:20 flight that I wanted. We'll be okay with that. May have enough points to consider the Lufthansa DEN to CPH flights; otherwise, Iceland Air here we come. But again, thanks for listening :-)

Only UA has E+, which you can't "buy" with miles. You can pay for it after booking, or you get it free on that leg if you are Gold or higher. 30,000 miles US-Europe is a saver economy ticket. Points needed for business class on this routing if you are on another airline's metal, has gone up to 70,000 miles for a saver ticket.

For London to Denver (via Dulles) on United metal, I booked 2 economy tickets with points (30,000 each) and upgraded to E+ for $139 each. I am still looking at the Lufthansa flights DEN to Frankfurt to CPH and would not be able to upgrade since they currently do not have E+. I did read that they are converting their planes to something similar to E+. I wasn't sure about the flights on Air Canada but will have to check out the YYZ-CPH on the 787. Thanks.

I wasn't sure about the flights on Air Canada but will have to check out the YYZ-CPH on the 787. Thanks.

I didn't feel right saying Air Canada "metal" for a 787 made of composites ! :)

I didn't feel right saying Air Canada "metal" for a 787 made of composites ! :)

There's still metal in the plane ;)