I had the opposite question recently when I realized I had not booked a return BDL-IAD. A couple of days earlier, the one-way fare was ~$450 in F or ~$250 in Y IIRC. I realized my mistake and went to book, and Y was under $100 (79 PQD earned I believe) with confirmable upgrades available. F was down, too. Why the sudden, precipitous drop in fare?
Originally Posted by
Repooc17
Seems like United is discouraging same day quick turn (domestic) with its fare mapping.
Just doing some "research" of random routes - e.g. EWR<->LAX. Same day return within 4 hours after outbound scheduled arrival, with travel date 2 months from today (to minimize any AP issues) - totally available G or K inventory on both ends would auto remap to W, and fare would more than double.
The fix.would be to extend more than 4 hours between flights, or book two one-ways.
Very interesting...don't remember seeing this previously.
I almost always book 2x 1-ways, FWIW. Yes, I understand there are times that's not advantageous (like some travel waivers that affect one date but not the other, or when doing a quick turn and risking a cancelation if still in the air when the return departs). But in general, I prefer the convenience, particularly when making changes to only outbound or departure without running into refaring the entire ticket or screwing up waitlist positions for more than the minimal number of flights. And counting 2x toward trip-based promos since they stopped requiring roundtrips for things like MilePlay. Back when change fees were exorbitant on domestic itins, I never would have booked this way.