FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - why so many fare buckets?
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Old Oct 31, 2022 | 6:43 am
  #17  
prestonh
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Bellingham/Gainesville
Programs: UA-G MM, Priority Club Platinum, Avis First, Hertz 5*, Red Lion
Posts: 2,808
Originally Posted by mfirst
ok, not specific to UA - while I can understand having buckets for various broad categories - business/first, premium, econ, award and maybe a few specialized buckets (although a little unclear why we need about a dozen different econ buckets?) ... but why do we need S, T, U, V, and W???? Why would I buy S over T (especially if there is a price difference, if UA is presenting me with what is already the least expensive seat in each class, unless I thought that one would raise my chances for an upgrade from zero to almost zero) especially when I look for tickets, I generally get the cheapest bucket for each category. Do people really intentional pay for M when it is baseline more expensive than J? Why pay for J when you can get C,D, or Z?

and with variable pricing....does it matter if you pay $1000 for a D if a few days later you can get a C for $800?

what am I missing?
enlighten me?


just random thoughts on a Saturday night....ok, I will work on getting a life now......
It's mostly due to the cost of carry. Business need cash flow to run. UA thus will discount fares in advance to raise cash...and only offer credits if you change the tickets etc. Most business travelers buy their tickets closer in to the travel date for similar reasons... to conserve their own cash...and it's in their contract...but they also pay higher fares. The various buckets just manage inventory to get the best yield.
prestonh is offline