US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - US Shuttle: What Kinds Of Corporate Or Unpublished Fares Exist

As anyone who travels on the BOS/LGA/DCA shuttle knows, the "walk up" fares are extremely high. However, a number of unpublished fares exist. I would like to get an idea of what types of corporate discounts are in existance? E.g. how much does your company (with its discount) pay for say a BOS/LGA ticket? In addition, what other undocumented discount fares exist, and how could one get these fares? I will provide a few examples I have found:

Government Fares: GREAT But Hard To Get
So you pay the walk up fare for the shuttle, hah? Well, guess how much the government fares are? As an example, BOS LGA is approximately $50 each way, and no there are no time restrictions. The difficulty is that, in theory, you need a government credit card to buy these tickets. I have a friend who works for the government, and they generally do not allow you to use your gov credit card for personal business, even though you pay the bill directly. I don't know, however, if this is enforced or not. This friend was able to buy a government ticket, using personal credit card, by showing government ID. This is not standard operating procedure, but there is some sequence of computer entries that an agent can use to issue the government fare even though the pax is not paying with a gov credit card. As you know, this is subject to agent discretion.

What other unknown fares exist, and how might we get them? FYI I will post this same topic in the DL forum as well.

The only legal ways to get a YCA (govt.) fare are:

1. Use a govt.-issued credit card; or

2. Use an Official Travel Authorization (OTA) with any form of payment.

If someone uses YCA fares for personal travel, it is a violation of federal law, with MAJOR penalties. I know of several ancedotes of Congressional staffers who got the axe and were liable for paying the airline full-fare b/c they used YCA for a vacation.

I currently pay $134.50 each way for an unrestricted fare from LGA to DCA. All that is needed to get this fare is a "goldfile" number. This is a walk up fare, but I usually make the reservation using the group and meeting travel number, because a lot of the agents at the airport do not know how to book the fare correctly.

Avek00 is correct.

Any employee that uses his government credit card for personal use is jeopardizing his career, future retirement pension, and possible jail time.

He is also defrauding the airlines for holding himself out on government business when he is clearly not.

The government travel contract is no different than that of large companies getting bulk discounts on fares. Every route that has a contract (not all do) is competitively bid. Sometimes these fares are much higher than the fares to the general public as they tend to fluctuate.

We are also bound to using contract carriers, period. There are a few exceptions like the flights are sold out, but that is about it. So sometimes the flights on the contract carriers are not all that convenient - but wre have to make sacrifices to take them.

Additionally, we cannot keep our frequent flyer miles for personal use. (There are proposals in Congress right now - likely because the Bush clan was appalled that they couldn't keep their miles like in private industry.)

So it's not always so easy as the guy who started this indicated it was.

My company has negotiated corporate discounts with DL, US and UA of 31% off any published fare, before taxes. As an employee, we are permitted to use it for personal use, too. To take advantage of the fare, I have to call my corporate travel agency, who books the ticket at whatever the published price is, less 31% and then adds taxes.

For personal travel, I usually go to usairways.com and see what my desired itenerary prices out at, then dig down deeper to see the fare/tax breakdown. Then I call our agency and book it with my own credit card.

So, a $325 fare is usually about $290 + taxes/fees, so my final price is $290-31% plus the tax base. A nice fare, indeed.

If the oganization or company is big enough, the deals abound. Government contracts are usually the result of tenders. In addition to big discounts, there are also upgrade benefits and more importantly, waivers of conditions such as Saturday night stays. Woe be it to the poor slob who either works for a small outfit ( or his or her own self), as they get nothing on this one.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PHL:
My company has negotiated corporate discounts with DL, US and UA of 31% off any published fare, before taxes. As an employee, we are permitted to use it for personal use, too. To take advantage of the fare, I have to call my corporate travel agency, who books the ticket at whatever the published price is, less 31% and then adds taxes.

For personal travel, I usually go to usairways.com and see what my desired itenerary prices out at, then dig down deeper to see the fare/tax breakdown. Then I call our agency and book it with my own credit card.

So, a $325 fare is usually about $290 + taxes/fees, so my final price is $290-31% plus the tax base. A nice fare, indeed.</font>

PHL:

Does the fare code change at all? So if you book a Y fare, after the discount, is it stil a Y with all the benefits thereof (i.e., upgrades at time of booking)?

Any large travel agency with a corporate travel department in NY, DC or Boston should be able to get you a negotiated deal if you guarantee certain volume. I am able to buy roundtrip open shuttle vouchers in minimum quantities of 10 roundtrips for 32% off the full fare.

BizJet ,
When a ticket is issued against an US gold file, with a percentage off a published fare, you could still use any benefits that your normally have with such fares e.g. upgrades, bonus miles, etc. The ticket would generally be issued with the published fare basis code, would sometimes have a ticket designator like perhaps dp31 (say e.g. 31% off), and also the gold file number would be in the tour code box of the ticket.

I have heard that for some meetings they waive Sat. night stay, etc. Has anyone ever heard of a gold file where they waive the $100 change fee on any published fare? I also remember some time ago, on a site like www.volumebuy.com, (http://www.volumebuy.com,) they advertised shuttle vouchers like those discussed above.

VolumeBuy appears to be gone.

WebTraveler-

"Additionally, we cannot keep our frequent flyer miles for personal use. (There are proposals in Congress right now - likely because the Bush clan was appalled that they couldn't keep their miles like in private industry.)"

Not true. you CAN Join FF clubs on Gov't travel and you CAN keep the miles. What you CANNOT do is use upgrades for PERSONAL travel. You MAY use miles to upgrade on gov't business travel PROVIDED you do NOT upgrade to first class. This last bit is more about the gov't being perceived the wrong way.

Here's the appropriate regs for you:

http://www.nps.navy.mil/sjanps/WalkThruJER4.pdf

Look for slides 17 and 18.

Regards,
-Bouncer-



[This message has been edited by Bouncer (edited 11-10-2001).]

Bouncer:

Re-read what I said. I said we cannot keep the miles for PERSONAL USE. That is what I said.

What you say is something completely different. Before you go saying what I said is not true, read what I said.

Bizjet -
Yes, the fare basis code remains the same. A Y fare is still a Y, even with the 31% discounting. Using an upgrade bumps it to a real 'F' designation.

I also use a goldfile number for LGA-DCA travel. The fare is the same 134.25 (northbound) or 132.75 (southbound) and can be booked as a walkup or through the groups reservations line.

BUT, when I called to ask about bonus miles noe time I was told that the tix are U class, not Y like normal walkup, so no full fare bonuses on the tix. Not that big a deal, since right now you can get bonuses for just being there.

Also, Gov't Fares YCA/MDG are considered restrictive and upgrades are based on availability in -G- booking class. This seems to be a big misconception.