inpd

United has moved to some new funky pricing policy which is P***ing me off big time.

I had priced 3 flights (SFO->SYD, SFO->BRU and SFO->FRA) this Monday. But I was waiting for my new Chase card before I purchased them. Card arrive on Wednesday and go to purchase them and *all* have increased 30%.

SFO->SYD is a good example leaving December 6th. Was $1400 on Mondy now $2000. What the hell, this is 5 months out and the plane is empty.

Mike Jacoubowsky

Nothing new here; prices go up, prices go down. My SFO-MSN itin finally dropped to $486 (still high!) from the $650-$750 it had been floating between for the past couple of months. DL & AA were the same. Airlines do what they can to extract the most-possible from those who have to fly while opening up narrow windows from time-to-time to snag those who would pass unless a "low" fare came along. Before all the mergers, the lower-priced windows were much wider.

So far, the strategy is working for them. Can't imagine how much worse UA's bottom line would be if there was real competition that resulted in lower fares.

COSPILOT

At least for me, United has become the most expensive option for my trips in the last couple of months. If I didn't need to bring a over 50 lb demo kit with me every time (free as a 1K), I would look to other airlines at this point.

Delta is almost always less expensive on my routes, which is why I'm considering a status match in the near future.

emcampbe

This is exactly what farelock is for. Sorry - if you see a price you like, you either have to purchase it immediately or hold it via farelock (usually available for 3 or 7 days if all UA/UAX metal - there are even a couple of tricks to hold it for 1 - 2 days without using farelock). Prices going up (and down) happens all the time and this is true of all airlines - sorry you missed out on the price you saw.

$8.99 (or whatever it is) for farelock is well worth it to save the $600 (or more, if the price went even higher) that you lost out on. I use it when I see a price I like and need a couple/few days to confirm things - even if the price doesn't jump, can find it well worth it to give me the peace of mind. I've lost out too - for example, held a fare on farelock to YVR and it went down when I was ready to purchase - so just bought the new ticket and moved on.

On the other hand, December is pretty far out, and early december is not quite yet holiday season - it will probably come down again.

CO_Nonrev_elite

Just wait a week and look on Monday or Tuesday after midnight, it will most likely go back to the previous pricing or less.

mgcsinc

Always do successive free holds if you're certain you want a flight.

marvanit

Why are you annoyed with United? Every airline varies pricing.

Shareholder

How do you do a "free hold" on UA? I know it can be done easily for 24-hours (til midnight next day) on AA, but UA only offers the Fare Lock options at 3-days for $3.99 and 7-days at $8.99. As emcampbe notes, it's certainly worth the investment if you're serious about getting that fare. I've used it a few times when one of my cc billing cycles is a few days away from clicking over and I have to book a flight.

mgcsinc

I'm actually genuinely surprised you don't know this...

"Pay with cash"...

transportprof

Late last year, I was at the LAX T7 check-in counter and saw a VISA stored value card dispenser with a sign that explained UA was no longer accepting cash payments and that one could load up a card with cash at this machine and then use it for payment.

Is this now a common practice at some/many UA stations? I can't imagine that it is a system wide policy, as there are many outstations where UA doesn't have much in the way of staff and support services.

mgcsinc

I have no idea whether you can actually complete the transaction with cash - that's usually not my purpose in choosing to "pay with cash"...

In practice, I think you can do it at western union as well.

scottsam66

It is showing$1364 for me. UA863. Try a different computer, or clear your cache maybe. I could be totally wrong, but I thought I remember reading on here that sometimes, UA, may know you are interested in the flight, you searched it, previously, so they may bump the price up. Again, relax, flamers, as I fully admit, I am only guessing here, and could be mistaken.
I just know for me, it shows $1364 currently.

usmsbow

Buy a ticket then cancel it within 24 hours. No penalty or fee (due to US law, not because of UA being generous to customers) and easy to do online. OP could have bought the tickets with his old card, canceled the next day if the price was the same, then bought again that same day, repeat the process until he got his chase card (or until the price went up).

That's just a theory though. While I've cancelled w/in 24 hours and rebooked right away, I haven't ever made cancellations in consecutive days.

ccharles

As with an increasing number of other things sold online, sometimes it's worth double-checking the new price by going in with a different browser (or the same one completely cleaned) or, ideally, from a different IP address. You may be offered the old price, the new price, or something completely different. It's always worth a try before you cough up for the higher fare.

Cargojon

I've also seen people check fares when not logged in, and they go down/up/etc. Try logging out and checking the fare. You can log back in to purchase.