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Dramatic 2020 fare increase for SFO to LAS flights April 22 - 25 for NFL 2020 Draft

Dramatic 2020 fare increase for SFO to LAS flights April 22 - 25 for NFL 2020 Draft

Old May 21, 2019, 5:59 pm
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Dramatic 2020 fare increase for SFO to LAS flights April 22 - 25 for NFL 2020 Draft

Was trying to get ahead of the game and book travel from SFO to LAS for the NFL 2020 Draft (April 23 - 25). Fares have been dramatically increased beginning April 22 -- that's as far in advance as I can see at the moment. Business class has risen from ~$575 RT to $2175 RT. Does anyone believe these prices will drop going into 2020? I do understand supply and demand and timing, but a 3 factor increase seems quite stout.
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Old May 21, 2019, 6:08 pm
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It's not uncommon for flights at the edge of the booking window to be available as full-fare only.
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Old May 21, 2019, 7:27 pm
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Originally Posted by mahasamatman
It's not uncommon for flights at the edge of the booking window to be available as full-fare only.
What he said.
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Old May 21, 2019, 7:54 pm
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Originally Posted by Barry3
Was trying to get ahead of the game
That was your problem.

You're unlikely to get the best fares this far in advance. UA knows that the only people who are shopping for airfare 11 months in advance are those whose schedules are completely inflexible, so they'll often raise fares and see who bites. This is true even beyond the "full-fare only for the first couple of days" effect, which is more a byproduct of some other process than something UA is doing on purpose.

You have 11 months to figure your plans out, and between the three Bay Area airports, you've got several options to get you there. I wouldn't worry too much.
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Old May 21, 2019, 8:06 pm
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In general it could be any of a few things:

- At the edge of the schedule not all the discount fares are published
- At the edge of the schedule they don't release any of the inventory lower than full fare
- The new rev mgmt system (gemini) generally seems to be increasing extreme advance purchase fares
- They're aware of the scheduled event and expected demand, and holding out

It's not the first one, the first class fares are published all the way down to KxxxxFN at $360++.
It is the second one, the 4/22 flights are all J9 C0 D0 Z0 P0 Y9 B9 M0 E0 U0 H0 Q0 V0 W0 S0 T0 L0 K0 G0 N0
It's likely not the third one, since we haven't otherwise seen it this aggressive
It's very likely not the fourth one, since they don't really plan that much for special events
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Old May 21, 2019, 8:18 pm
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Originally Posted by mduell
It's very likely not the fourth one, since they don't really plan that much for special events
And, to the extent that they do, the NFL Draft is unlikely to make the cut. I expect it's going to be relatively small potatoes in the Las Vegas market. CES, they might keep fares high. For the NFL Draft, it's unlikely that there's a ton of high-yielding business travel.
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Old May 21, 2019, 8:25 pm
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Originally Posted by jsloan
And, to the extent that they do, the NFL Draft is unlikely to make the cut. I expect it's going to be relatively small potatoes in the Las Vegas market. CES, they might keep fares high. For the NFL Draft, it's unlikely that there's a ton of high-yielding business travel.
I don't think they're even planning for CES yet, they don't have the usual crop of widebodies loaded.
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Old May 21, 2019, 8:44 pm
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Need a thread title change. More of a unavailable fare issue than dramatic increase
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Old May 21, 2019, 11:55 pm
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Originally Posted by Barry3
Was trying to get ahead of the game and book travel from SFO to LAS for the NFL 2020 Draft (April 23 - 25). Fares have been dramatically increased beginning April 22 -- that's as far in advance as I can see at the moment. Business class has risen from ~$575 RT to $2175 RT. Does anyone believe these prices will drop going into 2020? I do understand supply and demand and timing, but a 3 factor increase seems quite stout.
Is this fare quoted on ITA Matrix or something other than the airline itself? If so, give it a few days and the fare might get closer to normal.
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Old May 22, 2019, 1:54 am
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The adage of book far in advance to get the lowest fares has been pretty much dead for a long time.
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Old May 22, 2019, 2:41 am
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It was like this when booking a trip to India at the longest booking window out. I think I waited 14 days and it dropped drastically, so if the dates are already at the end of the bookable range, wait 14 days and hope for the best!!
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Old May 22, 2019, 5:22 am
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This trend is also observable for any flight departing New Orleans on the Sunday prior to Fat Tuesday. Pretty much all flights departing show 0 in every fare class but despite that glitch, you can purchase a one way ticket for around $500. All other days around then, including the Wednesday following Fat Tuesday are all reasonably priced and consistent across days for cash and award tickets.
In this case specifically, I think it may would be worth getting a low cost (17,000 mile) YN fare on Monday morning and SDC to Sunday when the 24 hour window opens up.


I should note that Im focusing on flights to San Diego.



Last edited by therossinator; May 22, 2019 at 5:39 am
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Old May 22, 2019, 6:11 am
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While it looks to the purchaser as though a carrier has raised its fares, this is simply the lack of low(er) fare inventory.

Unless this is the Indy500 or the Super Bowl where the risk in waiting is that the flight will sell out and you have nothing, there is no reason to book now.

Should you find an exceptional fare on some carrier at some point, by all means grab it. But, otherwise, this is not likely to be worth much worry until next January.
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Old May 22, 2019, 10:49 am
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I wanted to add that you might try to look into booking a hotel in advance because the prices are expected to increase significantly. During the NBA (?) draft that was held recently the hotel prices increased by a lot. On the news they said one hotel went from $79/night to $1,000/night.
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Old May 22, 2019, 3:42 pm
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sk8er: very good point. I did manage to book my lodging at a nominal rate at my favorite Las Vegas hotel. Shortly after, saw the following in the Las Vegas Review-Journal dated May 10: "Room rates at the Hooters Hotel start at $999 for the first day of the draft, a 1,165 percent markup from the previous week’s $79, according to a May 9 search on Booking.com." Once a precedent has been set I guess....
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