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What is bulk/consolidator fare, and why it's valuable to UA flyer

What is bulk/consolidator fare, and why it's valuable to UA flyer

Old Oct 30, 2017, 1:03 pm
  #1  
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What is bulk/consolidator fare, and why it's valuable to UA flyer

OK, got plenty PMs recently asking about UA bulk/consolidator fare, figure I will just write a simple FAQ here, hope this is the right place to post, mod please feel free to move / merge.

Q: What is bulk/consolidator fare?
A: Basically bulk/consolidator fare is a type of private fare that some travel agent who have special contract with airline were able to issue.

Q: What is the advantage of buying UA bulk/consolidator fare?
A: With bulk/consolidator fare, UA won't know how much you paid for this ticket, therefore they won't able to give out RDM base on ticket price. RDM earned on bulk/consolidator fare will calculated base on distance flown plus premier bonus.
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For a $500 SFO-PEK G class, 1k will earn ~12000 RDM on bulk/consolidator fare compares to ~4500 RDM on published fare.

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Another great example is $2300 YYZ-BKK P fare, published fare will earn ~ 22000 RDM, while 1k can earn ~55000 RDM (250% distance flown).

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Q: What is the disadvantage of buying UA bulk/consolidator fare?
A: First, you won't earn any PQD, as UA don't know how much you paid. Second, SDC before your flight is not allowed, but you can request agent to do SDC at a connecting point, except schedule change/delay/cancel. Last, RPU/GPU can't be applied online, you need to call in and ask agent to manually attach instruments. Of course this won't be an issue if you are buying non GPU eligible fare or P fare.

Q: How much does bulk/consolidator fare cost?
A: Those fares usually priced same as published fare for same flight.

Q: Will I earn 5x/3x bonus if I paid with a premium travel credit card?
A: Usually you get charged by air ticket consolidator instead of airline, so you will earn general travel bonus (i.e 3x with CSR), but not 5x with AMEX PLAT.

Q: Should I buy a bulk/consolidator fare?
A: If PQD is not a problem for you, i.e: cc waiver, foreign address, and you don't care SDC, then bulk/consolidator fare will allow you earn much more miles compare to published fare, especially on dirt cheap Y fares to Asia.

Q: Where can I buy bulk/consolidator fare?
A: The everyone known way is to buy bulk/consolidator fare through CITI thank you point, and you can always ask your travel agent if they have those kind of contract. If you don't currently have one, I am more than happy to help

Q: How about other airlines?
A: Other airlines do have bulk/consolidator fares, but not as useful as UA RDM earning, I.E bulk/consolidator Y fare on AA earn 10% distance flown credit as EQD.

Q: Other questions?
A: Please reply here, I will try my best to answer.
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Last edited by gokeeper; Jun 30, 2018 at 1:08 pm
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Old Oct 30, 2017, 3:27 pm
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Actually United still knows how much NET fare was and should post PDQ accordingly (as long as tkt issued on 016 stock)

and consolidator fares are usually cheaper than published, not by much though - 5-15% on economy fares (depending on consolidator's mark-up)
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Old Oct 30, 2017, 3:52 pm
  #3  
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Originally Posted by swaigiux
Actually United still knows how much NET fare was and should post PDQ accordingly (as long as tkt issued on 016 stock)
Yes, but United don't know how much passenger paid for their ticket, therefore they won't display any amount in receipt or credit any PQD.
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Old Nov 6, 2017, 12:31 am
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If living outside of the US, what is the best way to purchase these fares? Do I just go to any travel agent and ask for them? Or is there a special way to do it?
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Old Nov 6, 2017, 7:31 am
  #5  
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Originally Posted by david_oz
If living outside of the US, what is the best way to purchase these fares? Do I just go to any travel agent and ask for them? Or is there a special way to do it?
Yes, travel agent is the best way to purchase bulk fare tickets.
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Old Nov 7, 2017, 9:42 am
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I myself have access to many different consolidator rates so I feel like I should correct a few things OP wrote:

A: First, you won't earn any PQD, as UA don't know how much you paid.

Not true, only if the agent sets the IT command when issueing the eticket, if he issues the ticket the traditional way without the IT command the airline will see exactly how much one paid for the ticket.
The reason why many set the IT command is so passengers can't check via airline websites the "amount of paid" of the ticket and then feel cheated that the agent charged them lets say 100$ on top even thou it was still cheaper than on the metas.

Q: How much does bulk/consolidator fare cost?
A: Those fares usually priced same as published fare for same flight.

might be the case for U.S. domestic flights but not at all for international travel! Of course it depends on the type of contract the consolidator has with the airline but speaking from my perspective, I usually get any international long haul travel tickets cheaper (without any agent discount!) than the metas.

Q: Will I earn 5x/3x bonus if I paid with a premium travel credit card?
A: Usually you get charged by air ticket consolidator instead of airline, so you will earn general travel bonus (i.e 3x with CSR), but not 5x with AMEX PLAT.

Also does not apply to all tickets. It depends on each individual booking, for most of them you can let the airline charge directly via BSP, the minority of the tickets is where the consolidator charges (listed as Travel Agency in the MCC)
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Old Feb 12, 2018, 10:43 pm
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Originally Posted by fuyao
I myself have access to many different consolidator rates so I feel like I should correct a few things OP wrote:

A: First, you won't earn any PQD, as UA don't know how much you paid.

Not true, only if the agent sets the IT command when issueing the eticket, if he issues the ticket the traditional way without the IT crommand the airline will see exactly how much one paid for the ticket.
The reason why many set the IT command is so passengers can't check via airline websites the "amount of paid" of the ticket and then feel cheated that the agent charged them lets say 100$ on top even thou it was still cheaper than on the metas.

Q: How much does bulk/consolidator fare cost?
A: Those fares usually priced same as published fare for same flight.

might be the case for U.S. domestic flights but not at all for international travel! Of course it depends on the type of contract the consolidator has with the airline but speaking from my perspective, I usually get any international long haul travel tickets cheaper (without any agent discount!) than the metas.

Q: Will I earn 5x/3x bonus if I paid with a premium travel credit card?
A: Usually you get charged by air ticket consolidator instead of airline, so you will earn general travel bonus (i.e 3x with CSR), but not 5x with AMEX PLAT.

Also does not apply to all tickets. It depends on each individual booking, for most of them you can let the airline charge directly via BSP, the minority of the tickets is where the consolidator charges (listed as Travel Agency in the MCC)
Of course, if the agent help you ticket on pub fare, you even can earn 5x with amex plat. He is trying to say if the ticket is issued by bulk fare, you can not earn PQD. The determination point is not issued by agent or by website, it is determine by the fare type.

and there is no bulk fare for domestic travel as well. you can see people post about how they earn EQD based on distance even though they fly domestic, those are due to contract price, not bulk fare I think.

Last edited by Pat89339; Feb 13, 2018 at 1:06 am
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Old Feb 13, 2018, 11:49 am
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I'm very interested in this, as I generally fly cheap TPAC's on UA and have a foreign address as a 1K.

I can get the flights in the Citi portal, but do you know of any way to specify a fare class, so I can apply GPUs? It seems like the results are limited by whatever the lowest fare class is.
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Old Feb 13, 2018, 2:52 pm
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Originally Posted by hnxssss
Of course, if the agent help you ticket on pub fare, you even can earn 5x with amex plat. He is trying to say if the ticket is issued by bulk fare, you can not earn PQD. The determination point is not issued by agent or by website, it is determine by the fare type.

and there is no bulk fare for domestic travel as well. you can see people post about how they earn EQD based on distance even though they fly domestic, those are due to contract price, not bulk fare I think.
This is incorrect as most tickets from the airline vacation sales (i.e. American vacations, delta vacations, etc, or certain contracts) provide the miles and the PDQ. Travel Agents can insure that the PQD is available by contacting the airline, I have had the PQDs processed at the published fare price even though they are bulk fares in many instances, and your TA can get airfare only quotes from the airlines vacation division.
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Old Dec 30, 2018, 7:08 am
  #10  
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Am I correct in reading that there is no mileage multiplier bonus for business class?
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Old Jan 1, 2019, 12:22 am
  #11  
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Last edited by tcook052; Apr 25, 2019 at 6:03 am
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