qiaozongyu

I think the PQD benefits the loyal flyer when there are 30 names on the upgrade list and clubs full of people .
However, United seemed to screwed up the IT first.
So... we will see

pigx5

You are joking right?

Col Ronson

about what? If an airline thought they could sell the tickets on their own they would sell them on their own instead of at a reduced price to consolidator bookings.

docbert

What did you travel agency say when you asked them if your tickets were bulk tickets?

I also work for a large company, and also buy through Amex Corporate Travel, and have had no problems with PQD posting - even for flights where the price paid was below the published rate (due to corporate discounts).

I can't believe this is anything but a glitch in UA's system. The fact that front-line agents can't help doesn't surprise me - but Amex Travel and/or your companies travel department should be able to sort it out.

I'd say there's less than zero chance that UA is going to not give PQD for corporate tickets purchased through someone like Amex Corporate - it simply makes no sense.

pigx5

They can't and that's why they need the consolidators....
They are discount tickets not lost money tickets.

Col Ronson

exactly. But consider that UA doesn't make profits on every flight it flies. It may very well be a lot of those discount tickets will be loss-makers for the airline depending on the equipment being used. Take for example the LAX/SFO-SYD flights on 744s. UA is losing money on that route unless they get above a certain LF. And looking at the LFs for non-peak flights, its miserable.

Like i said its better to fill a seat with a dirt cheap fare than have an empty seat. Doesn't mean that filled seat is making them any money. Its very likely that seat is filled just to help narrow the loss.

Nothing i said was false.

LIH Prem

I don't know if you read the entire thread or not, but the OP later verified that his tickets were BULK tickets. (see post #27)

What about yours? I'm guessing they were not.

Corp travel agents like Amex and others service different companies, each has their own deal or set of deals with the the travel agent and with the airlines.

-David

davewang202

(Slightly OT)

In December, I booked a vacation package through Hotwire. One of those that allowed you to select specific Hotels, flights (Airline, flight No. and times). Then after I booked it, I realized that the receipt listed the fare cost as BULK. I couldn't upgrade the tickets, and I don't think that the flights would've collected PQD's. (It's been verified by another poster on FT that such BULK tickets from the consolidators did not collect PQD) In any case, I called Hotwire's customer support within a few hours of booking the package, and they allowed me cancel just the airfare portion of the package and re-book the same flights myself. I then went in through Chase's Ultimate Rewards site and booked the exact same flights and the costs differences were $7 (per person) * 2 = $14.

For the extra $14, I was able to apply upgrades, get an extra 1300 UR miles, and got the PQD's too. Don't think I'll be booking my flights as part of these "packages" in the future.

(Back on point)

My experience suggested to me that the bulk fare and what United charges for the flights aren't too different. What I don't understand is why your fare from your travel agent ended up as BULK. If I were you, I would go pester your travel agent a bit and ask them how to get a ticket that doesn't show up as BULK fare and how much extra it would cost to get a ticket that doesn't come from that bucket. I'll bet they know.

gengar

I just priced out OP's itinerary on ua.com for flights one day apart next week, all in F. The quoted price is $1537. OP paid $2090. If UA is making "no money at all" off OP's bulk tickets, they are doing even worse on the web selling PQD-eligible tickets.

ryman554

Yes, but isn't this the exact same verbage in the PQM requirements, too? None of these earn PQM, either.

http://www.united.com/web/en-US/cont...r/qualify.aspx
"MileagePlus award miles and Premier qualifying credits may not be earned on certain United and MileagePlus partner airline tickets. These include, but are not limited to:

United tickets purchased and used in violation of United's Contract of Carriage, fare tariffs and the MileagePlus Program
All free travel, including MileagePlus award travel
Unpublished charter flights
Industry free or industry reduced-rate tickets
Promotion certificates
Unpublished or opaque fares, including but not limited to those booked through priceline.com and Hotwire
Tickets, products or services purchased and used in violation of the terms and conditions applicable to United's MileagePlus partners"


Given the ticket earns PQM, it *has* to earn PQD (subject to weirdo 016 tix stock stuff) doesn't it?

sbm12

Except this:
The airlines "get" plenty of money from those tickets. Nearly all of it, in fact; the commissions on them are pretty light. It is less than selling without a TA or without the consolidator discount, but the airline "gets" plenty of cash in on the sale.

There's also the part where you directly equate LFs with profit, which is a gross oversimplification on how things work. Filling a plane is actually relatively trivial, assuming you're willing to sell the seats cheaply enough. Doesn't mean the flight will be profitable.

mduell

With the same flexibility?

$1537 Z vs $2090 F are very different tickets, even if going to the same city.

Col Ronson

well i retract the "no money at all" and replace it with hardly any money at all.

If these tickets were making UA so much money, then all their sold tickets would be bulk. Think about it, UA is going to do what makes them the most money (add more seats to A320s, charge for alcohol on TPAC...etc).

A lot of bulk tickets are sold at a flat rate too. It depends on the contract/deal with the booking agency.

mahasamatman

Apparently not. The post you quoted specifies that there is no PQD for consolidator or group/tour fares. There's no such verbiage for PQM.

sbm12

Sure there is...

http://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/Mark...es/united.aspx