Puzzled by American's Pricing Engine
Oct 16, 2018, 5:43 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2010
Programs: AA PP, UA 1K/MM, WoH Globalist, HH Gold
Posts: 1,195
Puzzled by American's Pricing Engine
I was checking out some flights from SFO-JFK (departing10/26, returning 11/1) and noticed that business class is roughly $300 more than first class. And as a bonus, you can use SWU to upgrade from business to first.
Checking a few other date ranges, the price disparity wasn't as bad, but there were still instances were first class is cheaper than business
Checking a few other date ranges, the price disparity wasn't as bad, but there were still instances were first class is cheaper than business
Oct 16, 2018, 5:52 pm
#2
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Thousand Oaks, Ca., USA
Programs: AA Lifetime Plat; Bonvoy Titanium Lifetime Elite;Hyatt Globalist; HHonors Diamond; United Silver
Posts: 8,313
I've seen F lower than Y on Delta. When Y is down to just a couple of seats, and F is wide open, not surprising.
Oct 16, 2018, 6:41 pm
#3
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: SFO
Programs: AA,UA,AS
Posts: 319
Most likely the cheaper fare bucket business class tickets have been purchased, while cheaper fare buck first seats have not yet been purchased. This causes first to be less than business. Give it a couple days and likely the cheap F fares will be bought causing F to be more expensive than J.
Oct 16, 2018, 6:46 pm
#4
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 75
Most likely the cheaper fare bucket business class tickets have been purchased, while cheaper fare buck first seats have not yet been purchased. This causes first to be less than business. Give it a couple days and likely the cheap F fares will be bought causing F to be more expensive than J.
Oct 16, 2018, 7:12 pm
#5
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
Are you certain that the fare rules are the same? Are the F seats inflexible while the J fares are not.
If that's the case, it's entirely possible that a full Y ticket which is refundable and changeable costs more than a seat in F on a discounted fare bucket which is neither.
Got to compare apples to apples.
If that's the case, it's entirely possible that a full Y ticket which is refundable and changeable costs more than a seat in F on a discounted fare bucket which is neither.
Got to compare apples to apples.
Oct 16, 2018, 8:26 pm
#6
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Live: IWI; Work: DCA/Everywhere; Play: LAS/SJU/MLE
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Posts: 6,669
Are you certain that the fare rules are the same? Are the F seats inflexible while the J fares are not.
If that's the case, it's entirely possible that a full Y ticket which is refundable and changeable costs more than a seat in F on a discounted fare bucket which is neither.
Got to compare apples to apples.
If that's the case, it's entirely possible that a full Y ticket which is refundable and changeable costs more than a seat in F on a discounted fare bucket which is neither.
Got to compare apples to apples.
This is why I find it very easy to rationalize these fare differences. Of course, it's no fun for someone whose employer might not care about the flexibility but nevertheless requires purchasing the more-expensive lower-class seat.
Oct 16, 2018, 9:31 pm
#7
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: DCA/IAD
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Posts: 7,816
I'm more partial these days to booking anomalies where the open jaw itineraries that I am looking at make it cheaper to book two one ways than to book the open jaw on one ticket.
Oct 16, 2018, 9:59 pm
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2004
Location: DFW/DAL
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Posts: 21,422
Not surprising. I remember when you could get First Class saver seats for 20K miles, when anytime econ seats were 25K.
Many times I saw first class at 20K while the cheapest econ available was 25K
Many times I saw first class at 20K while the cheapest econ available was 25K
Oct 17, 2018, 5:08 am
#10
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: DCA
Programs: AA Platinum, Admirals Club Member, HHonors
Posts: 77
My trip BOS->LAX(via JFK)->LAS->DCA in F was significantly cheaper than other options, maybe for the same reason.
Oct 17, 2018, 5:25 am
#11
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 3,698
Are you certain that the fare rules are the same? Are the F seats inflexible while the J fares are not.
If that's the case, it's entirely possible that a full Y ticket which is refundable and changeable costs more than a seat in F on a discounted fare bucket which is neither.
Got to compare apples to apples.
If that's the case, it's entirely possible that a full Y ticket which is refundable and changeable costs more than a seat in F on a discounted fare bucket which is neither.
Got to compare apples to apples.
Last edited by jordyn; Oct 17, 2018 at 12:10 pm Reason: Tried to make the last sentence actually make sense
Oct 17, 2018, 11:19 am
#12
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: PHX, SEA
Programs: Avis President's Club, Global Entry, Hilton/Marriott Gold. No more DL/AA status.
Posts: 4,422
I was checking out some flights from SFO-JFK (departing10/26, returning 11/1) and noticed that business class is roughly $300 more than first class. And as a bonus, you can use SWU to upgrade from business to first.
Checking a few other date ranges, the price disparity wasn't as bad, but there were still instances were first class is cheaper than business
Checking a few other date ranges, the price disparity wasn't as bad, but there were still instances were first class is cheaper than business
I've seen business cheaper than economy one time. I was returning from a cruise that ended in Santiago and that meant 2000 additional passengers trying to get home and so economy was oversold. That was the same flight that I was able to get AA F for like $300 more than J which was worth it at that price (discount F vs full J).