Originally Posted by
bmwe92fan
It's nothing more than revenue management - it provides a base for them that is for the most part "guaranteed" and they are willing to discount it for the "security" of the revenue stream and access to a customer segment that they may not otherwise be able to reach (i.e. corporate customers not under contract, leisure travellers that use a TA, etc...).
Think of it as how the US auto industry looks at rental car companies - they don't pay retail prices but are actually some of the largest auto customers in the US (if not the largest) for most manufacturers.
It is smart business if managed well - and I doubt they considered the PQD impact on this segment in advance...
I personally doubt that UA planned a deliberate war on bulk fares when setting up the PQD rules, but believe this is just another typical example of incompetence. Either it's a result of some low-level programming with no great thought given to it by management, or someone deliberately lumped bulk fares in with "opaque fares" without understanding their widespread and unknowing use by the very flyers UA wants to retain. If they had really set out to discourage the purchase of bulk fares, why don't they ever use the word "bulk" in their PQD terms and conditions?