Originally Posted by
Galacktus
I have been pricing a fare from LAX - LHR for this Tuesday and returning April 15th. Flights 934 and 935. United wants $10,725 for a Business Class Fare when on both flights only 10-12 seats out of 49 are occupied in Business Class. The outbound flight is in a couple of days!
What kind of pricing methodology is this? Does anybody know why the price is so high relative to the very low load factor?
Welcome to FT.
Can you please enlighten us on how you were able to retrieve the percise loads factors in C for these flights? If it using the seat maps, please see the very many, many, many threads on why the seat maps can not be used as an accurate measurement of flight loads.
You are looking to book a biz seat on a long trans-atlantic flight. It's going to cost a lot of $$, and UA prices it this way because, well, they think they can get it. Airlines in general don't do fire sales on last minute tickets, in fact, they assume you are travelling for business and therefore the company has more $$ to pay then you personally do if a) you are booking last minute and b) you are booking a C seat. Whether you agree with it or not doesn't matter.
If you are willing to pay for a last minute ticket at this price, you will and UA will get the $$, or you can look for a better fare on a competitor, and UA will likely either get an SWU, UFC, or miles for the seat (or perhaps, someone else willing to pay the $10,000).
This is the way every airline prices their seats. There are some slight variations, but in general, that's the way it is.