Base fare dropped to $128! I called for E-Ticket reissue under the Guaranteed Fare Rule, and a $10 voucher is on its way. (Now 2.58¢/status mile, 1.24¢/mile.)

"How do I book something like this" is one of this most frequently-asked questions in this forum. I logged on to United's web site and went to the Multi-City page. The "trick" is to underspecify what you want; i.e. don't try this segment-by-segment. For the sample itinerary shown above (which does not reflect the dates I'm flying, BTW), the request was for SFO-PDX-CVG-MSY-SFO. Each city-pair spits out two segments. (Remember to set Flights Per Leg up to 20, and enable Expert Mode in your profile's display preferences.)

"T" fares are capacity-controlled, and seats at this fare are extremely limited. After I bought my ticket, subsequent queries for the exact same dates/times/flights priced out nearly $500 higher, because I took the last one out of the "T" bucket. Plenty of seats were still available on other dates. I looked again today, and more seats had been released. That's how yield management works.


[This message has been edited by EPS (edited 11-07-2002).]