Summer fare illogics
 

Was checking on fares from the Chicago to the Bay Area for friends who want to visit, and noticed that for the summer season, it costs well over $100 more to go to Chicago than to go to the East Coast! Since FTers know everything, what is contributing to the persistently higher fares bases in and out of Chicago to the West Coast? Not the first time we have seen this, but I had hoped Southwest would have had more of an impact. I of course realize that Virgin America has really hammered the transcon fare basis, as least for a while. Thanks for your thoughts.

I am guessing that you could find similar situations going from Chicago to the East Coast... just depends on city pairs, loads, and other factors.

Besides, in many cases it is a longer distance to go from Chicago to the West Coast than from Chicago to the East Coast.... so you could say it is appropriate to charge more for the longer distance... :)

Of coursre, airlines do not set their rates that way.

Given that the OP is in San Francisco, I think the complaint should be interpreted as "it costs more to go from San Francisco to Chicago than it costs to go from San Francisco to the East Coast." The last time I looked, Chicago was closer to San Francisco than the East Coast was.

As for why: in a nutshell, supply and demand.

OOPS... sorry about that. The OP started out talking about find a fare for their friends to visit from Chicago... and I now see the second part changed the beginning city... :)

No apology needed - I should have worded it more clearly. And agree - supply and demand and number of choices in the market have a great deal to do with it.

Agreed -no logic
 

No need to aplogize. Your OP title is correct IMHO.
The "illogic" is there.

When UA sets fares for a R/T that totals 444 nautical miles at $1,100 (or more), then it has nothing to do with logic. (clue: ORD to anywhere in MI, except DTW, where AA keeps it in a reality check).
Since UA is a major carrier SFO-ORD I don't expect to find logic. Further UA/UX will rather fly half empty CRJs than adjust the fare downward to fill the planes.
No wonder that JP Morgan (-Chase - UA's VISA business partner) set UAUA as underweight last week. Very logical that UAUA closed yesterday at $4.65 per share. That gives UAL a market capitalization of approximately $596 millions....