T-giving Saturday V-UP is cheapest fare
Sep 21, 2012, 4:52 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Bay Area
Programs: United Platinum, American EXP
Posts: 227
T-giving Saturday V-UP is cheapest fare
I am booking travel for Thanksgiving Saturday and I am finding that the cheapest fare for an ORD-PVD leg is a V-UP. This true whether one way or roundtrip. Kayak lists the fare code as V2UP*** . United lists the code as P. Total cost is $280. The plane appears largely empty save for ~3 FC seats and 5 E+ seats and 20 seats in the back. First, V is an expensive fare to be the cheapest available. Second, since when is V an up fare? I wonder if this is to satisfy so some sort of performance metric regarding the number of paid F fares.
Sep 21, 2012, 5:01 pm
#2
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,847
the cheaper seats have been sold for peak holiday travel period
-UP fares are different from YBM Instant upgrades, V-UP is rare but not unknown. Search the old UA forum for "V-UP" and you will see a handful of threads.
-UP fares are different from YBM Instant upgrades, V-UP is rare but not unknown. Search the old UA forum for "V-UP" and you will see a handful of threads.
Sep 21, 2012, 5:51 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Bay Area
Programs: United Platinum, American EXP
Posts: 227
The plane is almost empty. Maybe they have just zeroed out the cheaper seats for the holiday. But if that's so, why wouldn't they exclusively sell more expensive F buckets by the same logic? This feels like a rev. dept miscue or evidence of a strange revenue 1st class performance metric.
Sep 21, 2012, 5:54 pm
#4
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,847
Sep 21, 2012, 6:27 pm
#5
Ambassador: Alaska Airlines
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: BWI
Posts: 7,390
A is still considered a true F fare bucket along with F.
I agree with others, if they are expecting, based on historical demand, to sell the F cabin quite well then they should zero out P inventory since there will be plenty of people who will pay for F/A fare. Again, the UP program is still new so maybe that is something they still need to "refine" over time?
Sep 21, 2012, 6:44 pm
#6
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Tucson, AZ USA
Programs: DL-Platinum / AS-PlatPro / Hyatt - Glob / Hilton-Diamond
Posts: 1,573
During the holidaze, the dynamics of traveler profiles reverse. Biz travel is down, family travel is up.
Demand for Coach increases so fares rise (via lower buckets selling out early).
Demand for First decreases, so lower fares are offered (because the few P buckets remain unsold).
Having rising Coach fares meet (or even exceed) lower F fares isn't as rare as you'd think.
When I'm searching, unless I can grab one of the super low Coach buckets, I re-scan requesting Y/B/M and again requesting First. You just never know what you'll find.
Demand for Coach increases so fares rise (via lower buckets selling out early).
Demand for First decreases, so lower fares are offered (because the few P buckets remain unsold).
Having rising Coach fares meet (or even exceed) lower F fares isn't as rare as you'd think.
When I'm searching, unless I can grab one of the super low Coach buckets, I re-scan requesting Y/B/M and again requesting First. You just never know what you'll find.