Searching Fare Class for One Segment of Multi-Segment Itinerary
 

Hey all,

I'm looking to use a system-wide upgrade for 2 segments of a 5 segment international itinerary. I believe only the segments which will be upgraded need to be in the mid-high fare classes (W and above) - please correct me if that assumption is wrong because the rest of this will be irrelevant.

Is there a way to search for my itinerary on United.com or elsewhere designating only those particular segments as W class and above (I have the full list of eligible fare classes, no need to give me that) while leaving the remaining segments as "lowest cost." Right now I booked W all the way through, but it occurred to me that I might be able to secure an overall cheaper itinerary while maintaining my ability to use system-wide upgrades on the long segments.

Thanks

No there is no way to accomplish this online, and in most cases it won't be possible because fares are often published between origin and destination and you can't always pick and choose on a per segment basis. There are some cases where booking the itinerary in multiple fare classes works to your benefit but when that happens United.com generally offers the option. But to search specifically by segment you'll have to call to book and it may not save you any money.

What you are trying to do, doesn't really work out the way you want it to.

I understand what you're after, but in pricing airfare, you need to look at several things:

1. City Pairs
B. Fares filed for a city pair (that meet all restrictions, etc)
III. Availability in the Fare [Basis]

To make things clear, you could do what you are in search of, if you can find a:

*Fare from Your Location to another location (usually the gateway for the international flight) in a Sub-W fare class
*Fare from that gateway (or wherever) to the international location in a W+ class
*The sum of the two above fares to be cheaper than the straight through W+ fare

If you succeed in those three - than you search on ITA and most likely on Hipmunk, then jump to UA to book. Otherwise, you can call and you should get quoted the same price.

Note, that this can happen, but you need to find two separate fares filed (the international fare in W+) to get from your location to the end location.

Good luck - this can exist, and theoretically you could maximise mileage/GPU flight length, and save money at the same time - but most likely, these are a bit more trouble than they're worth.

-jeremy