Originally Posted by
eponymous_coward
VX's fares on LAX-SFO right now are pretty cheap (lots of availability at $59 o/w at < 7 days- which is a LOT cheaper than WN, by the by). Between VX, WN and UA, there's lots of capacity on that route. That would certainly help explain everything.
Plus, on shorter flights, it's
so much easier using WN or VXs website to figure out your most cost-efficient options, if available. With UA, it seems as though the price of your second flight depends upon the first flight you choose. You end up doing quite a bit of back & forth to figure things out. WN or VX (or, for that matter, USAir) makes it a whole lot easier.
If you're flying transcon, investing a bit of time to figure things out isn't such a big deal (plus there are typically fewer options to consider than when flying a corridor). But who wants to go to all that trouble for an SFO-LAS or SFO-LAX quickie?
WN, VX & USAir make it so simple. Do I want to spend this many more $$$ to arrive at a given time, or can I rearrange things a bit to fly when it's cheapest? With United, it's as if they don't want you to know how things work.