Originally Posted by
bldr1k
I understand variable pricing and that fare buckets change all the time - I've flown 5M miles over the last 35 years.
The point I'm complaining about is that the airlines are basically forcing us to check every day for lower fares. I can have my secretary check 3 times a day but this is a complete waste of time and resources for both the airline and customer.
I am not talking about how non-refundable fares go from $200 to $300 to $150 over time by changing availability of fare buckets. That is fine and airlines have been doing that forever.
I am talking about buying a full-fare (F) ticket that one day costs $1200, then costs $1800, then costs $800 and availability and price depend on whether I logon as my GS account or as someone with no status. While this is completely legal and some people will think it is "smart", it is disingenuous to their best customers.
But there's the rub - United Continental still doesn't think you're one of their best customers. They seem to think that whoever the next poor (or not so poor) schlub that crosses their purchasing threshold is their best mark, ahem I mean best customer. Part of it may be this is their response to the automated price checking/mapping services that are out there that drive parts of the market, comparison kayakers, etc. Another part may be that they assume that since you, United MP member, have stuck it out this far, will continue to play their games. There's always more of us being born everyday so only when a metric that clicks too low will they even respond to the existence of "best" MP members. And their response earlier this year was simply to dole out status bumps to primarily folks who hadn't even been flying United recently.
David