Feb 28, 2021, 12:23 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Archive thread, active thread is
Consolidated "Why is this UA fare so expensive?" thread
Potential reasons for high fares
-- the lower fare classes are sold out
-- the lower fare classes are not available due to fare rule restrictions
..... day of the week travel restrictions, Saturday night stay requirement, minimum stay requirement, advance purchase requirements, ...
-- desired fares are not combinable
-- discount fares not available for one-ways, only roundtrips Why are international OWs so expensive, such high fare classes?
-- discount inventory for codeshare marketing airline is gone, but flight operator may have discount fare (or the reverse)
-- Plating -- airlines restrict the best fare to their ticket stock, meaning ticketing that flight on another ticket stock will be more expensive
-- Airline is figuring it will still sell (due to last minute purchases0 even if the competition is lower earlier. Such as peak leisure periods or special events.
-- Airline is placing a premium on non-stop (monopoly?) versus alternative connecting routings
If you find an expensive flight, start by checking the fare class and compare to the less expensive option -- that generally will explain a lot.
Consolidated "Why is this UA fare so expensive?" thread
Potential reasons for high fares
-- the lower fare classes are sold out
-- the lower fare classes are not available due to fare rule restrictions
..... day of the week travel restrictions, Saturday night stay requirement, minimum stay requirement, advance purchase requirements, ...
-- desired fares are not combinable
-- discount fares not available for one-ways, only roundtrips Why are international OWs so expensive, such high fare classes?
-- discount inventory for codeshare marketing airline is gone, but flight operator may have discount fare (or the reverse)
-- Plating -- airlines restrict the best fare to their ticket stock, meaning ticketing that flight on another ticket stock will be more expensive
-- Airline is figuring it will still sell (due to last minute purchases0 even if the competition is lower earlier. Such as peak leisure periods or special events.
-- Airline is placing a premium on non-stop (monopoly?) versus alternative connecting routings
If you find an expensive flight, start by checking the fare class and compare to the less expensive option -- that generally will explain a lot.
Consolidated "Why is this fare so expensive?" Thread [Archive]
Apr 16, 2018, 2:52 pm
#1351
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,413
Many discount UA fares are priced to disallow end-on-end construction. UA figures that there is a very limited market for this type of itinerary, and they'd really rather not sell it to you... but if you absolutely insist, then they'll come up with a price.
Basically, UA doesn't file a fare from TPA-JAX that allows transfers because they don't expect anyone to want to buy it. And they don't allow you to hook together fares end-on-end, mostly because they don't want you to be able to link a cheap JAX-ORD fare with a cheap ORD-LAX fare are get across the country for $59.
Last edited by jsloan; Apr 16, 2018 at 8:48 pm Reason: Added underlined bit per findark :)
Apr 16, 2018, 2:59 pm
#1352
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,419
jsloan hit at the heart of it. You're trying to fly hundreds of miles out of the way, and UA has no interest in that. They actually do file fares TPA-JAX, but they all require nonstop travel (for obvious reasons). Constructing four fares end-on-end (which would be needed to go via a hub) triggers a ~W fare minimum for combinability reasons, and yields the price you see.
Apr 16, 2018, 3:02 pm
#1353
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: TPA
Programs: UA GS; Marriott Titanium / LT Plat
Posts: 658
Basically, UA doesn't file a fare from TPA-JAX because they don't expect anyone to want to buy it. And they don't allow you to hook together fares end-on-end, mostly because they don't want you to be able to link a cheap JAX-ORD fare with a cheap ORD-LAX fare are get across the country for $59.
The $59 cross country thing makes total sense, but I'm just trying to go across the state! And not a particularly wide one! LOL!
Everything you wrote makes sense, thank you!
Apr 16, 2018, 3:28 pm
#1354
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,413
I suppose it makes sense; I'd only ever thought about flying Silver as part of a connecting itinerary. And, I agree with your point -- I don't think UA was necessarily trying to target trans-Florida flyers. You just got caught in the jetwash, so to speak. If you really want to do this, you can purchase two separate tickets and get the lower cost, but you're more or less at UA's mercy if your first flight is delayed.Is it the driving that you hate, or is it the road? For the prices you're looking at, you might be able to get an Uber and end up in JAX earlier than if you flew...
Apr 16, 2018, 7:23 pm
#1355
Join Date: Sep 2015
Programs: UA Million Mile, Mileage Plus Premier 1K, SkyMiles Gold Medallion, AAdvantage Gold
Posts: 875
I know this is crazy, but I'm trying to book TPA-JAX on United. I've done the Silver Airways partner flight way too many times now, and would prefer to earn some PQMs & PQD, and have back up options if there is a flight delay / cancellation (I got stranded a couple of weeks ago and had to drive - I hate driving).
I found viable options through all four realistic major hubs (EWR, ORD, IAD, and IAH) - with IAD being the shortest/fastest option (~5 hours on the outbound) and EWR being the best from a delay / cancelation perspective given the number of daily flights (7 between TPA-EWR and 4 between EWR-JAX).
Now here is the crazy part - I called the 1K desk and the agent couldn't couldn't even get it to price! I tried multi-city option on the Book Travel section on united.com and it came back at about $900 (granted, I'm flying Mon-Fri, but still)... individually these are like $200 - $300 roundtrip tickets (TPA-EWR, EWR-JAX), so it should be $500 - $600 RT (TPA-JAX)... why is this so hard to book and so expensive???
I found viable options through all four realistic major hubs (EWR, ORD, IAD, and IAH) - with IAD being the shortest/fastest option (~5 hours on the outbound) and EWR being the best from a delay / cancelation perspective given the number of daily flights (7 between TPA-EWR and 4 between EWR-JAX).
Now here is the crazy part - I called the 1K desk and the agent couldn't couldn't even get it to price! I tried multi-city option on the Book Travel section on united.com and it came back at about $900 (granted, I'm flying Mon-Fri, but still)... individually these are like $200 - $300 roundtrip tickets (TPA-EWR, EWR-JAX), so it should be $500 - $600 RT (TPA-JAX)... why is this so hard to book and so expensive???
Apr 16, 2018, 7:29 pm
#1356
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 2,531
I know this is Flyertalk, but you know you can take the bus round-trip for $40 and less travel time, right?
Apr 17, 2018, 3:07 am
#1357
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: TPA
Programs: UA GS; Marriott Titanium / LT Plat
Posts: 658
Thank you everyone for the great replies and increasing my knowledge in the process!
Jun 28, 2018, 10:43 am
#1358
Join Date: Dec 2014
Programs: UA GS ,QF Plat
Posts: 686
Why are UA such Bandits ?
Booking flights at short notice over the pond to DUB for mothers funeral, UA/EI fare for Aer lingus site around $2300, .bomb same routes and planes $5200, Cheapest UA overall fare $3500 .....pretty outrageous I think
Jun 28, 2018, 10:48 am
#1359
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Honolulu Harbor
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 15,025
I think "bandits" force you to give up something.
Jun 28, 2018, 11:04 am
#1360
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: London & Sonoma CA
Programs: UA 1K, MM *G for life, BAEC Gold
Posts: 10,227
Why does the OP want a regulated market? Surely UA is free to charge what it wants / can get away with. Short notice suggests business - presumably this is a code share and UA might well have limited inventory which it thinks it can sell. The OP is as free to book with EI as UA is to charge a premium.
Jun 28, 2018, 11:20 am
#1361
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Colorado
Programs: UA Gold (.85 MM), HH Diamond, SPG Platinum (LT Gold), Hertz PC, National EE
Posts: 5,656
I'll cut the OP some slack and offer some sympathy given the circumstances. It's times like this that exploring award options may be a better choice, regardless of standard or saver. Best of luck to the OP, and sorry for your loss.
Jun 29, 2018, 8:30 am
#1362
Join Date: Dec 2014
Programs: UA GS ,QF Plat
Posts: 686
Why does the OP want a regulated market? Surely UA is free to charge what it wants / can get away with. Short notice suggests business - presumably this is a code share and UA might well have limited inventory which it thinks it can sell. The OP is as free to book with EI as UA is to charge a premium.
Jul 11, 2018, 9:11 am
#1363
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: San Francisco
Programs: UA MM Plat, UA 1MM, Hilton Lifetime Gold, Marriott Gold, Hertz Gold, CLEAR, AS MVP Gold
Posts: 3,621
Ticket pricing to Hawaii, specifically KOA are getting really strange. I just bought a SFO-KOA-SFO and paid $860'ish for E+ and had a friend join me on the trip. He is flying IAD-SFO-KOA-SFO-IAD. We are on the SAME return flights (KOA-SFO) but depart one day apart and get this, he is paying $640!!?? BTW, we both booked yesterday. I am sure some FT gurus will have an explanation for this. I have some ideas but have never seen the price disparity this big. I just had a friend book KOA-LAX-CSL because it was cheaper than KOA-LAX and did the old get off in LA trick, but this seems different to me.
Jul 11, 2018, 9:18 am
#1364
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,413
Indeed. Not only does airfare vary by the day of the week, but also by market. UA often charges a premium on SFO-KOA because they offer nonstop service. On WAS-KOA, competitive forces have knocked the airfare down -- everybody has to connect, so UA can't extract a premium.
This happens all the time, and is specifically the reason that airlines don't allow you to skip legs of a journey.
This happens all the time, and is specifically the reason that airlines don't allow you to skip legs of a journey.
Jul 11, 2018, 9:59 am
#1365
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: San Francisco
Programs: UA MM Plat, UA 1MM, Hilton Lifetime Gold, Marriott Gold, Hertz Gold, CLEAR, AS MVP Gold
Posts: 3,621
Indeed. Not only does airfare vary by the day of the week, but also by market. UA often charges a premium on SFO-KOA because they offer nonstop service. On WAS-KOA, competitive forces have knocked the airfare down -- everybody has to connect, so UA can't extract a premium.
This happens all the time, and is specifically the reason that airlines don't allow you to skip legs of a journey.
This happens all the time, and is specifically the reason that airlines don't allow you to skip legs of a journey.