ORD-LAS F fares Much Higher Now
 

I fly ORD-LAS about 6 times a year in F. Fares have been ranging between 700-900 RT. All the sudden I look to book one in March and April and its between 1300-1400(!) I thought it was a one off but ive been checking for the past week now. So I checked United (which I dislike) and they have for the same dates RT for $608 RT!

Be a good time to fly UA!

Keep an eye on it - it's possible that cheaper fare buckets get released or AA matches UA pricing.

:) That's what I was thinking, Id pay a few dollars more, but over double, wow! Usually they are priced neck and neck ex ORD, at least domestically IME

$850-950 is retty much I have historically paid as well ( even for NCAA tournament weekend) Give it a few days and check again.

Sigh. When I checked not that long ago for an April weekend, AA was ~$1100 r/t (as was UA, from EWR), and DL was $1,500. Fares change. Sometimes one airline is cheaper, sometimes the other one is. Not so groundbreaking.

I never thought it was "groundbreaking". Just some thoughts on a route with consistent pricing for a few years, to overnight all the sudden double.

I noticed this too... I flew FNT-ORD-LAS earlier this month for about $1000, then I wen to book a trip in April, and prices were almost double. DTW-PHX-LAS had much more reasonable fares. Something about the ORD-LAS flights is causing them to be much more expensive than normal.

It's not only ORD/LAS. ORD/RSW had been between $550 and $625 RT in first for a long time (P fare), but suddenly jumped to $925-$1,200 last week and has stayed there. Meanwhile, UA is still in the low $600s nonstop and if you don't mind a stop in ATL, DL is around $450.

I thought that it was a quirk that would work itself out in a week, but maybe not. UA now gets my business until AA comes to their senses. I make this run about a dozen times a year, so the difference adds up fast. The recent destruction of C inventory has made matters much worse, so P fare costs are far more important than they used to be. I know that it is AA's plan to eliminate C opportunities to force some flyers to buy P fares to guarantee being in front, but that only works if AA's P fares are competitive. On this route, they are not so the plan backfires. I am sure there are many more routes like this.

Yeah that was my initial thoughts also, that with the schedule change it was just a one off. But its been over a week now so I am doubting that. Im just gonna wait it out for awhile im sure not too many folks are booking that fare at 1400, especially at over double than United.

Also seeing double the price versus UA on ORD to SNA/ LAX.:mad:

Wow! That really is unusual. It must be a glitch we can only hope

It really makes no sense to have fares 50% to 100% or more greater than UA out of ORD on routes where they directly compete. AA needs to fix this fast.

I noticed this too on PHL-LAS in F - going from ~$900 last week to ~$1500 this week.

Agreed. I'm ORD based and have been loyal to AA for the last 4 or 5 years. I buy discounted F 90% of the time on my domestic trips. AA has increased the price while UA has stayed constant...at least on the routes I frequent (mco/tpa/sfo/lax/san/las) I booked 3 trips in the last 3 weeks and UA got all of them. UA was roughly $175 to $250 cheaper per trip, per ticket. I'm planning on doing a status match to UA and just flying AA when I can use miles. The times i did buy coach I usually used a BXP1 to upgrade, but lack of C space at booking makes that less attractive.

I am in the same boat. Might as well try to get a 1K status match at UA while I am at it. I am sitting on a refundable ORD/NRT ticket right now that I could switch to UA for a $500 fee if a challenge is involved. I used to be a 1K until UA left me high and dry several times in the late 1990s which led me to switch to AA. I hung in there hoping that my 4mm would get me lifetime status higher than PL, but when PLPro came out with no lifetime status ability, it made me feel foolish for running up 2mm beyond lifetime PL and getting zero for it. Live and learn I guess.