Originally Posted by
DaviddesJ
If they both upgrade into PN, then B is always going to be cheaper than Y. And booking in F is usually cheaper. E.g., EWR-SFO (a few weeks ahead, so all buckets available) is $1625 in Y, $1424 in refundable P, $1027-1077 in refundable B, $795-845 in refundable M. Of these options for getting a F seat, Y doesn't look like the winner. There may be very rare times when booking in Y to get an F seat is the best option, but most of the time it's an inferior option whose sole advantage is that it 'looks like' economy to the employer or reimburser.
Another thing to take into account are corporate discounts. My corporate discount on Y fares on UA is substantial, so often times even if P is a few hundred dollars cheaper than Y, if it's a V-UP or something, after discounts Y is cheaper. Same goes for B.
That said, it's disappointing that they made this change without clearly communicating it anywhere...