Repooc17

21 is a common advance purchase (AP) period, Inside AP window (dates can vary), fares change even if inventories still exist. Like jsloan had posted upthread, there is absolutely no hard and fast rules, but being outside of AP period is optimal.

United has way enough data points to interpret the buying behavior of the general public. Most people buying far out tend to have inflexible dates, and usually around major holidays and popular destinations, so why open/file discounted/deep discounted fare buckets?

n8-the-gr8

This is probably the most true statement in this thread
I've seen every combination: flights that get cheaper close in, flights that only get more expensive close to departure, event-driven flights that only got more expensive until the week before and then unexpectedly dropped in price (which is when it's great to take advantage of the 'no change fee' policy and get some money back), etc. The only time I look super far out is to see if there's saver availability and book speculatively.

Agree on this point re: UA's pricing sophistication, which unfortunately is not typically to our benefit...

bitterproffit

I just saw the opposite:

I am pricing BNA - MAD in J in September 7, return October 4:

UA: Some at $3300, most at $3800, a couple at $5,500
DL: Almost all at $5,700
AA: every combo on the app shows $11,700 - $11,900 but one that is $5,500.

The same AA/BA combo of flights on the BA website price at $4400.

I just checked the website instead of the app and AA pricing are all $11,900.

How can they all be so different?

Drunkmuppet

So I’ve experienced this over the last year since travel has begun to cold back. I believe united has no motivation to offer cheaper fares as planes are booked solid with limited capacity

the other issue is this. With no change fees just book the flight. If it comes down closer to departure just change the flight or cancel and use the travel credit to rebook. I’ve done this about 10 times in ve the past year. With the removal of change fees I think it’s completely thrown their revenue model into a new world

zebranz

Yes that one did show up but thought this funny as being in LAS I look to position to LAX for a deal...

I am in YVR now after flying back on KLM. Bought a YVR-AMS-YVR almost a year ago to position up north.

You just need to grab things as you see them if you are flexible.
I think the Award pricing nuts but considering the devaluations all airlines have had they see the need to charge more miles.
Have to hope the JN deals come back.

SS255

I’ve been monitoring LAX-JNB flights at the end of August. For the flights I want to take, UA wants over $15K.

JimInOhio

I'm not sure I know what you mean by "just need to find it" wrt pricing. If you need or want to go to Paris (just as an example) then finding a great fare to Rome is irrelevant.

JimInOhio

Q4 operating income:

UA $1.39B
DL $1.43B

DL was slightly ahead in Q3, too

ZenFlyer

I'm spending a lot of time on the AA forum lately and there's lots of complaining how expensive fares are, as well as about lack of international award space. I haven't looked but I would bet money that the same is true on the DL forum. (And don't get me started on Qantas . . . ) I'm not doubting the OP's experience at all, but my sense is that demand is currently high on all the major airlines, and which one you find to be more affordable will likely depend on the specific routes, timeframes, etc. that you are looking at.

wakesetter93

Demand is high and pilots (and therefore available seats) are scarce. Hope we see it start to come down soon but, UA does seem to be drastically higher than AA, which is facing the same pressures.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

I agree w/ this. United has a pretty good-sized group trying to figure out how to maximize revenue. People buying airfares in the distant future aren’t generally business travelers. There’s probably a lot of people who want to have some comfort in planning ahead and UA is capitalizing on that. I don’t usually book more than two months in advance domestically.

Why is UA more expensive than others? Just different revenue management. I’m pretty sure UA is aware of the price differentials (and may eventually text) but I think UA believes (as each airlines does) that they are doing it right. Day-to-day differences far out on a particular flight when demand is low aren’t as important as what happens closer to the flight when most of the seats start to sell. To put it another way, UA doesn't care if they hook some or lose some far in advance - the bulk of the revenue they’re looking for will be closer to departure. Lower fares are generally a part of that later overall revenue management scheme.

With the drop of change fees, exchanging early-bought tickets for cheaper trips is now a game, but the added cost is one’s time in keeping track of (sometimes numerous) credits. I sort of figure UA’s flight credit scheme has resulted in some loyalty to UA (they are holding a lot of credits for people ) - that probably makes up for change fee drop. People buy new tickets. Or the credits expires unused.

nomad420

I do this all the time and have taken the short flight down to LAX from SFO in my case if I find a substantially better fare. FWIW the SFO -FCO fares are now at least twice that price for a J fare (at least when I need to go). I have yet to price it out of LAX but I am not optimistic.

anc-ord772

When booking 1-4 weeks in advance UA is more competitive. I’m looking at LAX-MCO vv in June and UA is astronomical (as is DL in C+). I wouldn’t normally book this early but I have no flexibility, which the airlines are counting on. Ended up booking MCO-LAX on B6 this week. Three seats + Even More Space upgrades was several hundred dollars cheaper than UA (and we get E+ for free). I’m waiting to see what happens with pricing on the outbound. Fingers crossed it drops on UA or DL.

xliioper

Fare bucket inventory variability. It looks like you are looking at First Class fares on AA instead of Business Class. All 3 majors have matching biz fares (exact same $775 base fares) for roughly $3360 roundtrip all-in (DL in Z class, AA in I class, and UA in P class). The October 4th return has bucket inventory in cheapest biz class on all 3 carriers, but you need to adjust outbound by a day or two to find flights with availability in cheapest buckets on other 2 carriers. This highlights the issue when cherry picking dates and not doing a deeper dive on fare filings and bucket inventory availability. Carriers often have matching fare filings, but bucket inventory may not be open on any given day and you may need to tweak departure/return dates in order to find flights with fare bucket inventory available in corresponding cheapest fare buckets. This is where tools like Google Flights/ITA Matrix (in flexible dates mode) come in handy.

cfischer

Don't mistake my OPM flying with my personal flying