Beginning to note that United seems to be pricing far out tickets very high and then dropping and raising prices up and down as the flight date approaches. Sometimes the price drops are quite dramatic. For example, have seen flights SF to KC start at $700 only to drop later to $180.
Unfortunately, UAL.com makes it difficult to reprice on the same flight. So even if you catch the timing just right, you are likely to lose your seat, etc.
So, considering booking tickets on Capital One Travel which seems to have a solid system for capturing price drops even if only in credit. At least it is something.
And, it seems that if a ticket needs to be cancelled or changed, it is possible to do that for tickets booked on Capital One Travel on the UAL.com portal relatively easily without huge fees provided handled there with self service (ie: don't call an agent who will add needless fee markups).
I habitually book trips far out - often at the maximum booking window (planning too far in advance is my greatest weakness interview answer). In part this is to capture good seating. But this means you pay a premium - often higher than tickets booked a week ahead of the flight.
Wanted to make sure I am not missing some trap or snag before starting to regularly book tickets in this way.
If there is some analysis somewhere on strategy and considerations would be great to get a point to it. I have tried to really find something with focused analysis but have not identified it.
One additional question: does it make difference in how tickets are treated if you are booking on Capital One Travel using cash only vs a mix of cash and the price drop credits?
Thank you.