nsx

I can beat that: 37.5k Avios for AA 3-cabin F with the same 2-across seating. Or 25k for lie flat business class. Both become available about 4 days before travel. Book a refundable backup flight such as Southwest using RR points then just watch the availability on the BA site.

Note that the Avios bookings on BA are refundable with loss of only the $2.50 security fee if you cancel more than 24 hours before departure. I have seen availability of these seats as late as 1 hour before departure. There is no close-in booking fee on BA, not that I want to give them any ideas about that.

olouie

Good to know for personal travel. Not so great for business travel. Not sure a company will reimburse for using miles :-)

djk7

There's some hyperbole here too:

Personally, I'm not tied to any airline, I compare on every flight I take. That said, from my home airport, to the destinations I fly, the lead time I have in booking, and with all status long gone, WN ends up being the best choice well over 50% of the time for me.

FindAWay

At least you let readers know that you are trolling.

Why do you think anyone here doesn't "branch out"?

Sounds like you may need to "branch out"!


Who are these "many folks"? Why do you assume that you know they assume anything? Especially, "blindly"?


You seem to use the qualifier "some" a lot. There are many examples between any two airlines...why don't you search SJU - HNL in December...AA's fare in first is less than UA's coach fare, which (like your posts) proves nothing beyond the obvious that different carriers may charge different fares.

FCfree

Every time I fly, I check all airlines and various city options to see who has the best price. I certainly wouldn't mind paying a bit more for first class (maybe up to $50). However, given that I have Southwest Companion Pass, it is difficult to imagine that UA could out-price SWA, at least in my situation.

If UA didn't have change fees, they might stand more of a chance.

Should the situation ever arise that I actually book a UA FC ticket for the same or less than an SWA devolve ticket, I'll be the first to post here. I haven't personally seen that situation yet -- but I'll keep looking -- even though the change fee will continue to frustrate me should I consider UA.

PS -- I did fly UA from DEN to YVR last July. I tried every possible combination to try to avoid getting ripped off by UA and their bag fees. Tried SWA to SEA and F9 to Bellingham. Nothing really worked. UA had it priced just right so that when you added in the other costs of going to an alternative airport, the fare was just about equal. As for first class ... not even close on that flight.

Further, I promise if I ever win the lottery, I will fly UA more, because I really do like first class -- but much prefer it if it is free (see my handle).

olouie

But will you fly UA's FC? If I hit the lottery I still wouldn't pay much more for UA domestic first. The PS flights maybe.

FCfree

It would depend on how big the lottery win was.

For a smaller lottery win, I would fly UA domestic first class because UA is a dominate carrier at Denver, thus giving me the most non-stop options. When going to other carrier's hub cities, I would certainly consider them. For overseas travel, I would likely focus on other airlines as their business/first product is better.

For a larger lottery win, I would charter private aircraft.

However until that happens, I have only rarely seen where carriers other than SWA have better prices. Earlier this year, Frontier was cheaper on one leg, so I flew with them. I have yet to see United first class to be on par with SWA. But I will keep looking. That will be a tall order since I have Companion Pass.

TTTTroll

It's a unfair comparison. Would you really prefer that UA ticket to WN during IRROPS?

FCfree

As one who does not have status with either UA or WN, I do not have a strong opinion either way with regard to the IRROPS issue. I suppose there is a slight bias toward a UA-First ticket being more likely to get me to the destination sooner than a WN-coach ticket. However, the annoyance of the change fee with UA generally outweighs the IRROPS bias.

If I am traveling alone and UA has a first class ticket for $300 and WN has a coach ticket for $300, yes, I'd probably take the UA ticket. If I was traveling with wife and daughter, that would be $900 for UA-first vs. $600 for WN-coach (because of companion pass). I would probably go WN. Lottery hit (i.e. saving money significantly less important), as described above, would change the equation.

However, if it is $500 for the UA first ticket vs. $300 for WN coach, then in both cases I'm going with WN (unless I have won the lottery).

Nonetheless, I do agree with the OP that for every flight, you should be checking the offerings of every airline and making an intelligent, informed decision (I can have package #1 with airline A, package #2 with airline B, etc.)

FCfree

I should add that I have seen IRROPS go against UA as well. I recall one nice summer day when I booked UA (E+) non-stop DEN RNO. UA couldn't get their pilots to DEN because of storms in the Washington DC area. Had I booked WN with DEN LAS RNO (with plane change), I would have been in RNO sooner. So, you can't always assume that IRROPS will favor UA.

A single fleet of airplanes where the pilots can easily be interchanged between flights favors WN over a more complex fleet where they might have pilots available, but not for the type of aircraft available.

Further, when I did get out of DEN on a later flight, they couldn't give me the E+ seat. I got pushed back into coach and it took a couple of phone calls (to the India call center -- always a joy to talk to! NOT) to get the E+ upgrade fee back.

Dave Carroll said it best: "I won't say I'll never fly with you (United) again, 'Cause, maybe, to save the world, I probably would, but that won't likely happen, and if I did, I wouldn't bring my luggage, 'cause you'd just go and break it, into a thousand pieces, just like you broke my heart ..."
(Song: United Breaks Guitars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo)

And even if they don't break your luggage, they will definitely charge you for it!

toomanybooks

That may be what they told you, but UA at IAD lies so much I wouldn't bet on it.

My wife refuses ever to set foot on a UA plane because of it. Bummer for me with all these UR points.

Bonehead

I must admit that I have underestimated the importance of the "no change fee" policy to WN regulars, but don't folks get bitten by the upfare requirement at times? The free SDC on UA is great, but of course is of no use if your plans change three weeks out, whereas the WN policy is great in those circumstances.

In addition, the Companion Pass seems to be a big deal as well. Clearly there are advantages and disadvantages to both WN and UA, and one's flying patterns clearly play a big role in determining which airline works best. For me, I'm getting older and crankier and am a big guy (not a COS, but not a jockey either), so UA FC makes my travel bearable. I'm also able to pay the incremental cost in many cases, so I realize that I may be a bit of an outlier.

FindAWay

Welcome back! And a reasonable post to boot!

With respect to your fair upfare question, you did answer some of it yourself insofar as it is not limited to same-day. Also, it extends to cancellation (although funds must be used on SWA within a year of original booking), which increases flexibility greatly. Finally, SDC is not free for all UA pax (only upper - level elites with same fare class availability), while no change fees on WN applies to each and every pax on WN. So, sure there are limited situations where UA's free for upper - level elites would work better/cheaper than WN's no change fees approach; but, to quote you: "one's flying patterns clearly play a big role in determining which airline works best."

Bonehead

As does the opportunity to fly in comfort versus being jammed in to a sardine can. I started this thread to point out that it may only takes a small premium to achieve a much greater level of comfort on UA (or other legacies) vs WN, which I believe would have been impossible until recently. I was genuinely surprised, and one of my goals was to spread the word.

I have been noting that many UA, AA and DL regulars on FT are also taking note of the relatively low incremental differences between Y and F fares on their respective airlines and booking those tickets. I hope that some folks who only check WN when planning a trip now realize that there are much better alternatives in some cases, although I realize that loyalty and the chase for elite status plays a huge part in our decisions on who to book.

FindAWay

Just curious - do you think anyone who reads FT actually only checks WN's fares when planning a trip? Do you think anyone who reads FT only checks UA's fares when planning a trip? If your answers to the preceding 2 questions differ, why do they differ?