eleeut

I recently flew a RT paid itinerary, WAS -> LIM, which was sold to me through UA.com as P fare (BF seg IAH -> LIM). No additional steps were needed (no upgrade applied, additional cash layout) to get into front cabin. Receipt shows P fare on all segs. After the segments were flown, my account summary noted the crediting as H class. Correspondence through 1K voice resulted in the following:

They (MP) have determined the buy up option used for the purchase of a P class seat does not qualify for additional bonus miles.

The first thing I'm thinking is that they are looking at this as an H-UP, but do they do those on BF marketed segs? Then again, I admittedly don't know the rules on H-UP/V-UP etc. Also, if sold on UA.com as a P fare, I assume that's what I should expect my ticketed fare class to be.

TIA!

JetAway

Did you specifically tell them you did not use the buy-up option? If you did tell them, why do they think this was a buy-up? I would try to get clarification of this point in follow-up correspondence.

eleeut

I haven't gotten to that point yet. I'm just trying to gather the wisdom of the crowd here first before the next round. Is there such thing as an "instant buy-up" though that the consumer wouldn't know about though?

mbarreto

I bought a few P fares on BF segments, never had this issue, I always got the fare class bonus.

XCstud

I think it is possible on the UA website to buy what you think is a valid p fare (like you did) while the underlying fare is really an h-up or v-up (not saying that is actually what happened in your case, but I think it is possible). The problem is I'm not sure there is a way for you to prove or see what the true fare basis was at this point. When you purchase the ticket, you can click on the fare rules and see the actual fare basis code, but the receipts won't give you that.

I was looking at a good priced p fare to a Mexican city and I need a certain number of miles, but I'm scared to purchase it in the event something similar happens because I'm counting on the bonus miles. I looked at the fare basis and it is a P........ and not H-UP............ so I think mine is ok.

If UA is going to advertise tickets as a premium fare basis with the associated bonus PQMs, they should honor that. I'd ask them to prove that you bought an H or V fare and requested the upgrade.

Or better yet, ask them to give you the correct miles since it was advertised as a p-fare and they are a friendly airline now.

ksingh0311

This is incredibly dishonest on UA's part. But pardon my ignorance, how do you find out what the fare basis means? For example, if I am looking at a P fare with fare basis PNN4A9SN, can I be reasonably assured that I am buying a P fare with PQM bonus? Thank you.

mherdeg

Oy vey. The United mileage earning page, http://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/Mark...es/united.aspx , says "You'll earn miles according to the booking class that you purchase."

But then it presents a table based on "fare class", which is a different phenomenon!

Look at all these published UA fares in the WAS<->LIM market which
(1) book into booking class P,
(2) are business-class fares (e.g. WLX4G9LN/UPDIS rules say "…PREMIUM DISCOUNTED FBR BETWEEN THE US AND SOUTH AMERICA…THESE FARES APPLY FOR FIRST/BUSINESS CLASS SERVICE",
(3) have a fare basis code whose first letter is something other than P (variously W,H,U,V,E):



This is a mess. If UA says they credit miles based on the booking class, they should credit based on the booking class (P).

I just ran a dummy booking for a "business" fare from WAS to LIM from 1/5 to 1/12 and nowhere did I see anything but booking class P — until I clicked the "Fare Rules" button, typed a CAPTCHA, and found that it was really a WLW4G9LN fare. (Interesting "booking code change permitted" rule in the fare rules there…)

If UA wants to credit based on the purchased fare class (W/H/U/V/E), then they should stop saying that they credit based on your purchased booking class (P). That would be a change.

And if they want to credit based on the purchased fare class, they should really do a better job showing you the fare class you are purchasing at some point in the process.

Yeah, during the purchase process on united.com, click the "fare rules" button and look at the fare basis. If you're booking a "PNN4A9SN" fare (first letter is "P") I'm pretty sure you're buying a P fare.

UA Insider

Hi eleeut, would you mind PMing me with the details of your reservation and correspondence with 1KVoice? I'd like to look into this.

Aaron Goldberg
Sr. Manager - Customer Experience Planning
United Airlines

XCstud

Since your fare basis starts with a P, you are buying a "real" P fare and should get the bonus. I just did a search on UA's website for IAH-LIM on 10/29 -11/6 and searched specifically for P fare. Total trip price was $3100 and looks like I'm buying a legit P fare, but when I click on the link to see the fare rules it lists it as a W class with the fare basis code of WNN8D9LN.

If UA isn't going to fix this and show it as a W fare so people know what they are getting, they should give people the P fare bonus.

fragment54

I've been burned by these "ups" before when trying to change a flight that I thought was an A fare. It is absurd how opaque United makes the booking system to screw the customers.

anyworldthatimwelcometo

Booked for November and all on UA metal. I am not elite with UA and thought this was the reason...
My fare rules don't seem to refer to any sort of buy up and fare class is listed on e ticket as P.
Do I also deserve 50% bonus and bonus PQM?

(forgive me if I am missing something here.)

Looks like bonus will not post until after travel so no need to worry yet.

But am I right in assuming P fare brings PQM as well? This would bring me to Silver Premier.

XCstud

It does if it is a real P fare basis and not a H-up, V-up, etc. The problem is the only way to know the actual basis is to check the ticket rules before you purchase to see what the actual fare code is and what shows up on the receipt or e-ticket is not necessarily the fare basis. I was looking at a couple of routes today that both pull up as P fares. One had a true fare basis, PNN4C9SN but the other had a W fare basis, WNN8D9LN which I expect would not accrue the bonus PQM.

SEA1K4EVR

I disagree.. any fare that books into P (or A) entitle the flyer to the 50% bonus PQM. Every one of the fares shown on that ExpertFlyer capture book into P and the OP should get the bonus regardless if the fare basis starts with P or something else.

XCstud

I agree that's how it should work, but it doesn't always seem to in practice.

trust77

I purchased a P fare ticket back in July 2013 for travel in September 2013 and got the PQM and MQM as I should have. This was not a buy-up or upgrade option. FYI.