US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - US Fare Structure

I have noticed that while US is competitive on most fares that I search for, I cannot understand the following:

A flight to SFO from DCA on US in april costs $398. The same trip on UA, AA, NW etc is 264. Co prices out at 233.

I understand that DCA is a US "hub", but how can they expect to fill a plane when every other competitor (including a profitable one :-)) is underpricing them?

I'll be CP in April, so the chance for first class exists. But I am also gold on CO, so I'll most likely get upgraded there as well.

I am new to US, so I was wondering if anyone knows if the fares on US drop as the departure date nears?

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CO Gold, US Gold, SPG Gold, MR Silver

Two comments: First, $264 is ridiculously cheap and you better believe not one of those carriers offering that fare will make money on you. Before taxes, that's about $100 each way. Second, it's possible US sold all of its inventory originally available at that fare. If they sold the whole plane at that rate, the flight would be unprofitable. So, they may let the other carriers pick up some of the cheaper traffic in the hope they get people buying the higher fares closer to departure. If the inventory is correctly controlled, this should technically work out.

CO just launched a very aggressive fare in this market on Friday and it doesn't appear that the other guys are going to match it. The other guys settled on the 264 fare and I think they hope CO will come back up to them. US appears to be waiting to see what happens. Their fare for this market is usually in line with UA. I've noticed a lot of the majors have been refusing to match CO lately. Not sure why.

One reason is CO out of DCA is quite small. US and the others have a lot more seats to handle connecting traffic than does CO.

Today I had to book a flight - PIT-STL and back, tomorrow through Friday. US and AA left 30 minutes apart, both on an RJ - AA-$480, US-$800+ Guess which I took.

Look for the US flights you want with the UA codes on them. Voilla! $264 http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif.



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Don't feed the trolls.

Thanks for the replies. I will probably book on UA . . . but if booked on US, first class would have been a distinct possiblity.

I'll wait for a bit to see if US drops. hopefully they will realize that they make more money with a plane full of passengers paying $264, than a plane with 15 people paying $384 http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

If not, I will have to settle for economy plus.

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CO Gold, US Gold, SPG Gold, MR Silver

IIRC you can book a UA flight on US metal, use your US DM number and still be in the upgrade queue.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by pdhenry:
IIRC you can book a UA flight on US metal, use your US DM number and still be in the upgrade queue.</font>

Only for day-of-departure upgrades, I believe.

If it's not a Monday or Friday, I've seen golds in the front coming and going from SFO.

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Don't feed the trolls.

I'm looking at booking a trip from BOS to MCO this weekend, last minute, under 7 days advance purchase, etc.

On B6 and Song I can get tickets in the $300-$400 range.

However, here is what US shows for a Sat outbound and Sunday return:
Fare for selected flights is: US$
868.90
Display price

Alternate flights for these dates as low as: US$ 771.40
And they're wondering why LCC are eating their lunch? And ironically you almost get more "service" on Song or B6. You at least get more of a choice of snacks. The only thing missing is DM and the roomier first class seats. But who is going to pay more than double just to fly on a major?

Now if it was $10, $20, or even $50 more it wouldn't be so bad. But who will literally pay double? UA is high, but not quite as high as well.

Ive ranted about this too, but have about given up. Their fare structure is completely irrational. It is filled with seats that are either too expensive or too cheap. The worst I saw was JFK-LAX that was slightly over $2200 on US with a connection in PHL and slightly over $300 on a non-stop, premium transcon. Huh? I look at US but have seldom booked them recently, I am not getting competitive fares compared to UA or AA.