Feb 16, 2016, 6:52 pm
Last edit by: findark
Table 1: United First fare differential versus same fare in United Economy
x indicates that there is no normal nonstop service between the city pair. Up to two transfers (connections) are free in each direction.
‡ indicates there is no /UPDI fare published for this route. Amount is the difference between lowest available UP fare and current Economy (lowest), provided for reference.
-- indicates United does not publish a fare for this city pair.
Table 1.5: United First fare differential as a function of flight distance (partly speculation)
Table 3: Minimum fare class with matched United First fare
- indicates no /UPDI fare is published for the route
‡ indicates the minimum matched fare is also the minimum published fare
* indicates that there is a lower, unmatched fare with the same basis letter as the lowest matched fare
The United Economy booking code hierarchy is: Y B M E U H Q V W S T L K G N
Code:
lax | 99 --
sea | 129 129 --
den | 129 129 159 --
dfw | 159 159 199x 129 --
msp | 199 199 159x 129 129x --
iah | 199 159 199 129 79 159 --
ord | 199 199 199 129 129 99 129 --
atl | 249 199x 249x 159 129x 129 129 129 --
iad | 299 249 249 159 159 129 159 129 129 --
ewr | 460‡ 451‡ 299 199 159 159 159 129 129 79 --
fll | 299 249x 299x 199 159x 159x 129 159 -- 129 159x --
bos | 299 299x 299x 199 199x 159x 199 129 129x 99 79 159x
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
sfo lax sea den dfw msp iah ord atl iad ewr fll
‡ indicates there is no /UPDI fare published for this route. Amount is the difference between lowest available UP fare and current Economy (lowest), provided for reference.
-- indicates United does not publish a fare for this city pair.
Table 1.5: United First fare differential as a function of flight distance (partly speculation)
Code:
total distance fare differential
min max ($)
------------------------------------
299 79
300 499 99
500 999 129
1000 1499 159
1500 1999 199
2000 2399 249
2400 299
Code:
lax | K -
sea | K K -
den | K K K -
dfw | K K L K -
msp | K‡ K L K K -
iah | L‡ K* K‡ K K‡ T‡ -
ord | L K* L‡ L K* K* K -
atl | K K L‡ K K K‡ K K -
iad | T‡ K* L‡ K‡ K K* K K K -
ewr | - - K K K K‡ K K* K* Q -
fll | K K L K K K K K - K K -
bos | K* L‡ L K L T K K L K K L
---------------------------------------------------------------
sfo lax sea den dfw msp iah ord atl iad ewr fll
‡ indicates the minimum matched fare is also the minimum published fare
* indicates that there is a lower, unmatched fare with the same basis letter as the lowest matched fare
The United Economy booking code hierarchy is: Y B M E U H Q V W S T L K G N
A Comprehensive Look at Domestic First Class Monetization (FCM) on United
Jan 31, 2016, 9:41 am
#46
Join Date: Dec 2011
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Plat, Avis First, Hertz PC
Posts: 575
This is awesome! Thank you!
If United will start listing the fare codes in expert mode, it will be much easier to look under the covers (without using EF paired with routing rules, etc). Not likely, but I can wish!
If United will start listing the fare codes in expert mode, it will be much easier to look under the covers (without using EF paired with routing rules, etc). Not likely, but I can wish!
Feb 2, 2016, 12:19 pm
#47
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Anaheim, CA US
Posts: 251
New online buy-up pricing
Hello,
Today I purchased an online buy-up and the way it worked seemed to be different than before. In the past I would see the difference between my fare and a published FC fare, whereas if I called an agent I might be charged the difference between my fare and a current -UPDI fare. Here's what happened:
Originally booked K class one way ticket for $179. At the time of purchase (months ago) the first class fare was about $300 more so I didn't bite.
I looked at my reservation and the buy-up was now $203 so I went ahead and purchased. I would say that $200 is a pretty common -UPDI fare difference for that route (SNA-STL)
Oddly enough the currently offered fare for that exact flight is roughly $350 with a $550 first class fare. So it seemed to offer a buy-up based on the fare that I paid. I don't think I can see the fare basis that I'm on but the online eticket receipt now shows BU200USDFC1 on the fare rules.
Anyways that seems to be a good improvement for those wishing to buy up online. Curious if others have noticed a change.
Today I purchased an online buy-up and the way it worked seemed to be different than before. In the past I would see the difference between my fare and a published FC fare, whereas if I called an agent I might be charged the difference between my fare and a current -UPDI fare. Here's what happened:
Originally booked K class one way ticket for $179. At the time of purchase (months ago) the first class fare was about $300 more so I didn't bite.
I looked at my reservation and the buy-up was now $203 so I went ahead and purchased. I would say that $200 is a pretty common -UPDI fare difference for that route (SNA-STL)
Oddly enough the currently offered fare for that exact flight is roughly $350 with a $550 first class fare. So it seemed to offer a buy-up based on the fare that I paid. I don't think I can see the fare basis that I'm on but the online eticket receipt now shows BU200USDFC1 on the fare rules.
Anyways that seems to be a good improvement for those wishing to buy up online. Curious if others have noticed a change.
Feb 2, 2016, 12:31 pm
#48
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: USA
Programs: UA 1K/*G, Hyatt Globalist, Bonvoy BS, Hertz & Avis Pres
Posts: 653
Purchasing a number of tickets yesterday, I noticed a new layout/design for the buy-up popup that appears immediately after ticketing. Pricing of upgrades was also wildly more than I am used to on discount Y tickets ($999 for DEN-CLT, and $599 for ORD-DEN), where I am used to upgrade costs in the $200-300 range for these flights. Hoping it is an anomaly but these upgrade prices were in excess of the difference between the (immediately previously) displayed Y and F fares during the purchase process.
Anyone else noticed same/similar upgrade pricing? I hope not but have heard speculation about United increasing upgrade pricing in an effort to increase premier upgrade success and wonder if this is related.
Anyone else noticed same/similar upgrade pricing? I hope not but have heard speculation about United increasing upgrade pricing in an effort to increase premier upgrade success and wonder if this is related.
Feb 2, 2016, 12:38 pm
#49
Join Date: Dec 2011
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Plat, Avis First, Hertz PC
Posts: 575
This thread has some good info. Often the buy-up prices are the typical UPDI fare difference for the route.
For example, you paid $200 for K in the past, the current UPDI difference between economy and first is $200, and the current lowest first class fare is $600(W-UPDI). Common buyups will be $200 (UPDI fare difference) or $400 (full fare difference to lowest first fare currently on sale).
Most discount upgrade offers are the UPDI differential for the route, regardless of what fare class you originally purchased.
For example, you paid $200 for K in the past, the current UPDI difference between economy and first is $200, and the current lowest first class fare is $600(W-UPDI). Common buyups will be $200 (UPDI fare difference) or $400 (full fare difference to lowest first fare currently on sale).
Most discount upgrade offers are the UPDI differential for the route, regardless of what fare class you originally purchased.
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Feb 2, 2016 at 2:48 pm Reason: cleanup after merge
Feb 2, 2016, 5:18 pm
#51
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,384
First of all, I want to give a big round of appreciation for all the thanks. I didn't want to clog up the thread replying to each of you individually, but I do want to say I'm glad that you all find this interesting too. Thanks!
Unfortunately, it looks like just as I get curious enough to write this up, United is going to make some tweaks to the way they do fares. As far as I can tell, things are staying mostly the same from a theoretical standpoint, but a few things are changing.
It looks like they are rolling out the new fares in a haphazard basis, as a they pretty much always coexist with the old ones. As an example, here is the bottom half of BOS-SFO right now, in Y and F:
They have changed the differential paired fare from using "/UPDI" to replacing the two advance purchase digits and the following "A" (I've never seen any other letter in that position) with a one-character advance purchase code and the word "UP". So, for example, KFA21AGN pairs with KFAVUPFS (the V in fourth position corresponds to the 21-day advance purchase). The general differential fare principle is the same, but I notice the following changes:
I will let any changes spread through the system before considering updating the numbers.
Unfortunately, it looks like just as I get curious enough to write this up, United is going to make some tweaks to the way they do fares. As far as I can tell, things are staying mostly the same from a theoretical standpoint, but a few things are changing.
It looks like they are rolling out the new fares in a haphazard basis, as a they pretty much always coexist with the old ones. As an example, here is the bottom half of BOS-SFO right now, in Y and F:
Code:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cxr Basis BC Cbn Price Tp AP Min Max Days Rf T Start T End Expiry Blk/Note ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UA GFA03AHS G Y $106.05 RT 3 -F- 30 N 9-Feb-16 UA GFA21AHS G Y $129.30 RT 21 -F- 30 N 29-Feb-16 UA KFA21AGS K Y $133.96 RT 21 -F- 30 N 23-Feb-16 25-Mar-16 4-Feb-16 18Mar-04Apr UA KFA21AGN K Y $163.72 RT 21 -F- N UA LFU07AHS L Y $169.30 RT 7 -F- 30 TW N 26-Jan-16 10-Feb-16 3-Feb-16 UA LFK21AGS L Y $171.17 RT 21 -F- 30 TW S N 20-Feb-16 18-May-16 2-Feb-16 18Mar-04Apr UA LFA21AGN L Y $182.33 RT 21 -F- N UA TFA21AXS T Y $190.70 RT 21 -F- 30 N 25-Feb-16 30-Apr-16 11-Feb-16 18-20,24,25,28Mar UA TFA14AGN T Y $211.17 RT 14 -F- N UA SFA14AGN S Y $243.72 RT 14 -F- N UA WAA07AGN W Y $285.58 OW 7 N UA QAA07AGN Q Y $332.09 OW 7 N
Code:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cxr Basis BC Cbn Price Tp AP Min Max Days Rf T Start T End Expiry Blk/Note ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UA KFAVUPFS P J $412.10 RT 21 -F- 30 N 23-Feb-16 25-Mar-16 4-Feb-16 18Mar-04Apr UA KFAVUPFN P J $441.86 RT 21 -F- N UA LFU7UPFS P J $447.44 RT 7 -F- 30 TW N 26-Jan-16 10-Feb-16 3-Feb-16 UA LFKVUPFS P J $449.30 RT 21 -F- 30 N 20-Feb-16 18-May-16 2-Feb-16 18Mar-04Apr UA LFAVUPFN P J $460.47 RT 21 -F- N UA TFAVUPFS P J $468.84 RT 21 -F- 30 N 25-Feb-16 30-Apr-16 11-Feb-16 18-20,24,25,28Mar UA TFAUUPFN P J $489.30 RT 14 -F- N UA SFAUUPFN P J $521.86 RT 14 -F- N UA WAA7UPFN P J $563.72 OW 7 N UA SFA14AGN/UPDI P J $568.37 RT 14 -F- N UA WAA07AGN/UPDI P J $610.23 OW 7 N UA QAA7UPFN Z J $610.23 OW 7 N UA QAA07AGN/UPDI Z J $656.74 OW 7 N
- Connection cost is decreased to $20, from $25.
- Fare may use a different peak surcharge (Q table) than its pair.
- The price differential and minimum matched fare may change when these fares are added. SFO-BOS decreased from $349 to $299 and from S to K. SFO-IAD decreased from $349 to $309 and from S to L (right now there is no matched economy L fare!). SFO-ORD remains constant at $199.
- Not all routes have these fares yet. Also, they haven't deleted the old fares yet, so the p.s. routing loophole remains on the table.
- New fares have a cleaned up routing block for cat4:
Code:THE FARE COMPONENT MUST NOT INCLUDE TRAVEL BETWEEN EWR AND LAX. AND THE FARE COMPONENT MUST NOT INCLUDE TRAVEL BETWEEN EWR AND SFO. AND - FOR TRAVEL ON/AFTER 11FEB 16 AND ON/BEFORE 02MAR 16 IF THE FARE COMPONENT INCLUDES TRAVEL BETWEEN IAD AIRPORT AND LAX THEN THAT TRAVEL MUST NOT BE ON ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING UA FLIGHT 319 UA FLIGHT 653. - ...and a slightly more descriptive notes block describing the dual inventory requirement. They still have the strange "Economy Restricted Fares: P" title.
Code:ECONOMY RESTRICTED FARES P APPLIES FOR ONE WAY FARES FOR ADULT RESERVATION BOOKING DESIGNATOR EXCEPTIONS CHART 1 FARE LOCATIONS/FLIGHTS MKTG RBD NOTE IDENTIFIER CXR ------------- ----------------------- --- ---------- ------ ANY FARE EACH FLT SEGMENT. UA W P P/BA ANY FARE EACH FLT SEGMENT. UA W REQ
- Booking codes of premium fares may be adjusted again. The new fares on SFO-ORD book into P at the bottom, rather than A.
I will let any changes spread through the system before considering updating the numbers.
Last edited by findark; Feb 3, 2016 at 12:48 am Reason: formatting
Feb 2, 2016, 8:34 pm
#52
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,413
[*]New fares have a cleaned up routing block for cat4:
Code:
THE FARE COMPONENT MUST NOT INCLUDE TRAVEL BETWEEN EWR AND
LAX.
AND
THE FARE COMPONENT MUST NOT INCLUDE TRAVEL BETWEEN EWR AND
SFO.
AND - FOR TRAVEL ON/AFTER 11FEB 16 AND ON/BEFORE 02MAR 16
IF THE FARE COMPONENT INCLUDES TRAVEL BETWEEN IAD AIRPORT
AND LAX
THEN THAT TRAVEL MUST NOT BE ON
ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING
UA FLIGHT 319
UA FLIGHT 653.
Feb 3, 2016, 12:12 am
#53
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2014
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Posts: 14,384
You can, however, still use the loophole. The actual /UPDI fares in the table above allow the EWR connection. They are $50 more each way. I expect them to get deleted eventually.
Feb 3, 2016, 1:08 pm
#54
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Verdi, NV, SFO & Olympic (aka Squaw )Valley.
Programs: Ikon Pass Full + AS Gold + Marriott Titanium + Hilton Gold. Recovering UA Plat. LT lounge AA+DL+UA
Posts: 3,822
Starting my second decade on FlyerTalk this week, this might be the most interesting post yet. So many thanks to the author!
Feb 3, 2016, 1:53 pm
#55
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Homosassa, FL & Ringwood, NJ -UA-G(Lifetime); SPG-Plat (Lifetime)
Posts: 6,120
Is there any indication that UA varies when flights are to a "resort" destination like MCO (or other Florida)? While not such exactly, I fly a lot TPA-EWR and return and see almost always 129, sometimes 10-20 less.
Feb 3, 2016, 2:38 pm
#56
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: San Francisco
Programs: UA 1K since 1998 & 3 Million Miler & ex-GS; DL Diamond 2015-2022; BAEC Silver; Bonvoy LT Titanium
Posts: 1,018
Thanks for taking the time and effort to research, analyze and then clearly explain this somewhat complex pricing topic. I very much like your writing style and the grammatical correctness! Bravo. :-::-::-::-::-:
Feb 4, 2016, 10:46 am
#57
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: BOS
Programs: Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott/SPG/Hilton Gold, PreCheck + Clear
Posts: 2,306
Feb 6, 2016, 5:06 pm
#58
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 189
Thanks for the long and easy to follow explanation.
I've been buying cheap ($500-600) A fares out of SEA that were UPDI fares... usually to Texas.
Now it makes sense why I haven't been able to find these fares again recently - I guess the UPDI fares are changing into more expensive "UP" fares... My cheap fares now price out at $1k+ for A class.
I agree that it will be better for Premier upgrades but... this seriously changes/impacts some of us out there. I guess now we know what Oscar was talking about when he said something about how he was improving Premier upgrades.
The main reason being is that my "job" permitted me to buy F if it was slightly more than Y.. well, now looks like there is again a big difference between F and Y. This isn't good news for me. #BringBack$misek
I've been buying cheap ($500-600) A fares out of SEA that were UPDI fares... usually to Texas.
Now it makes sense why I haven't been able to find these fares again recently - I guess the UPDI fares are changing into more expensive "UP" fares... My cheap fares now price out at $1k+ for A class.
I agree that it will be better for Premier upgrades but... this seriously changes/impacts some of us out there. I guess now we know what Oscar was talking about when he said something about how he was improving Premier upgrades.
The main reason being is that my "job" permitted me to buy F if it was slightly more than Y.. well, now looks like there is again a big difference between F and Y. This isn't good news for me. #BringBack$misek
Feb 16, 2016, 5:44 pm
#59
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,384
Some updates!
I get this suspicious feeling like UA Insider read this thread and told UA RM they needed to get their house in order. Probably not true, but what is certainly true is that the table of differentials has changed, a lot. In general, they have gone up, sometimes substantially, so perhaps this is UA management scaling back FCM in favor of elite upgrades. It will take a few months for ticketed fares to transition to the new table, so we will have to wait and see.
The new table really looks like someone took the fare writers to task and told them to make things make sense. It is entirely distance-based (or block time based for all the meal schedule people
), and can be summarized as follows. Note that some of these are guesses as I don't actually have enough data to be sure. Anyone who wants to get more data, feel free 
The new fare differential table looks like
And perhaps more interesting is the change in these numbers, as well as comparison of cpm for upsells by origin (bold are new figures in the averages table):
It also looks like they are trying to standardize the match level at K (sometimes L):
As I noted two weeks ago, the fare naming structure has changed a bit with this. The general theory of "/UPDI fares" (if we still want to call them that) is the same, but the name of the fare has changed. The new differential premium fares have the following relevant changes:
These new-style differential fares occur only on routes with canonical nonstop service. Routes which have little or no direct service (e.g. MSP-ATL, SEA-LAX) still have old-style differential fares, except that they have been refiled with the following updates:
I'm going to work to update the original post with some of this info, and maybe make a wikipost, since I have this lurking suspicion UA is going to change direction again soon. In the mean time, bigger differentials should mean more expensive TOD's, so we'll see what happens to 1K upgrade percentages come summer.
I get this suspicious feeling like UA Insider read this thread and told UA RM they needed to get their house in order. Probably not true, but what is certainly true is that the table of differentials has changed, a lot. In general, they have gone up, sometimes substantially, so perhaps this is UA management scaling back FCM in favor of elite upgrades. It will take a few months for ticketed fares to transition to the new table, so we will have to wait and see.
The new table really looks like someone took the fare writers to task and told them to make things make sense. It is entirely distance-based (or block time based for all the meal schedule people
), and can be summarized as follows. Note that some of these are guesses as I don't actually have enough data to be sure. Anyone who wants to get more data, feel free Code:
total distance fare differential
min max ($)
------------------------------------
299 79
300 499 99
500 999 129
1000 1499 159
1500 1999 199
2000 2399 249
2400 299
Code:
lax | 99 --
sea | 129 129 --
den | 129 129 159 --
dfw | 159 159 199 129 --
msp | 199 199 159 129 129 --
iah | 199 159 199 129 79 159 --
ord | 199 199 199 129 129 99 129 --
atl | 249 199 249 159 129 129 129 129 --
iad | 299 249 249 159 159 129 159 129 129 --
ewr | 460‡ 451‡ 299 199 159 159 159 129 129 79 --
fll | 299 249 299 199 159 159 129 159 -- 129 159 --
bos | 299 299 299 199 199 159 199 129 129 99 79 159
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
sfo lax sea den dfw msp iah ord atl iad ewr fll
Code:
lax | +50 -- sea | +60 +50 -- den | -10 +60 +80 -- dfw | 0 +80 +100 0 -- msp | +100 +100 +80 +60 +50 -- iah | -- +80 +100 -10 0 +80 -- ord | 0 0 +100 0 0 +40 0 -- atl | +110 +100 +110 +80 +50 +50 +50 +50 -- iad | -50 0 -50 0 0 +50 0 0 +50 -- ewr | -- -- 0 +100 0 +80 +80 +50 +50 +30 -- fll | +20 +60 +110 -30 +30 +30 -20 0 0 0 +30 -- bos | -50 -70 +150 -10 0 +80 -10 0 +50 0 +30 +30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- sfo lax sea den dfw msp iah ord atl iad ewr fll
Code:
SFO LAX SEA DEN DFW MSP IAH ORD ATL IAD EWR FLL BOS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
cpm | 14.3 9.8 7.8 11.7 13.7 8.7 15.5 13.7 9.3 15.2 13.4 11.4 13.3
xps | 14.0 9.0 12.5
upd | 11.2 13.0
xps | 14.1 13.6 12.6 14.3 16.0 15.4 15.3 16.5 15.8 17.3 19.0 12.6 15.8
Code:
lax | K -
sea | K K -
den | K K K -
dfw | K K L K -
msp | K‡ K L K K -
iah | L‡ K K‡ K K‡ T‡ -
ord | L K L‡ L K K K -
atl | K K L‡ K K K‡ K K -
iad | T‡ K‡ L‡ K‡ K K‡ K K K -
ewr | - - K K K K‡ K K‡ K Q -
fll | K K L K K K K K - K K -
bos | K‡ L‡ L K L T K K L K K L
---------------------------------------------------------------
sfo lax sea den dfw msp iah ord atl iad ewr fll
As I noted two weeks ago, the fare naming structure has changed a bit with this. The general theory of "/UPDI fares" (if we still want to call them that) is the same, but the name of the fare has changed. The new differential premium fares have the following relevant changes:
- Connection cost is decreased from $25 to $20
- Category 4 rules have received a major cleanup. They prohibit routing via p.s. flights (named by route) and select three cabin aircraft that have been coded into the fare by flight number.
- For whatever reason, the new differential fares use a different, and generally more expensive, peak travel surcharge table (Q table) than do some of the cheaper Economy fares. This is likely the explanation for the extra difference in fare if your findings don't match the table above.
These new-style differential fares occur only on routes with canonical nonstop service. Routes which have little or no direct service (e.g. MSP-ATL, SEA-LAX) still have old-style differential fares, except that they have been refiled with the following updates:
- Connection cost has been removed. Two connections are permitted free in each direction on the fare component.
- The Category 4 rules have not been cleaned (in before UA fixes this...). EWR-LAX is prohibited, but not EWR-SFO. If you can find routing rules that permit an EWR-SFO sector, then you can route it, often for less than the $599 sale price for the nonstop. For example, I did it with SFO-PVD. Note that you need a fare without canonical nonstop service to your destination, so e.g. RDU-SFO or BOS-SFO won't work.
- Old-style differential fares on nonstop routes have been deleted.
I'm going to work to update the original post with some of this info, and maybe make a wikipost, since I have this lurking suspicion UA is going to change direction again soon. In the mean time, bigger differentials should mean more expensive TOD's, so we'll see what happens to 1K upgrade percentages come summer.
Last edited by findark; Feb 16, 2016 at 6:53 pm
Feb 16, 2016, 7:20 pm
#60
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: New Jersey
Programs: UA MM 1K, AA MM Gold, Marriott LT Platinum
Posts: 3,234
Big changes! Thanks findark for keeping on top of this.
Glad I got a number of $79/$89 upgrades to A from IAH-EWR (now $159). I'm assuming there's still no guaranty that the TOD (now HOD) upgrade would book into A, correct?
The upgrades are definitely no longer no-brainers.
Glad I got a number of $79/$89 upgrades to A from IAH-EWR (now $159). I'm assuming there's still no guaranty that the TOD (now HOD) upgrade would book into A, correct?
The upgrades are definitely no longer no-brainers.
