UA - a global airline but not for "foreigners"?
 

2 weeks ago I needed to fly HNL-STL on my own dime and had to book this ticket a few days before departure.

Admittedly I don't fly much within the US, so perhaps this is olde news...

In any case, the price for HNL-STL in domestic F was USD1,300, but every time I tried to pay for the ticket, the price would go up to SGD2,400 i.e. USD1,900 (when trying to use my Singapore-based credit card) or around EUR2,000, i.e. USD2,600 (European credit card).

In other words, UA are pretty active in the area of point-of-sale discrimination - a little bit like let's say what we see in the Peruvian market. The only difference is that a non-US credit card holder would need to cough up a minimum of USD500 extra for this ticket...

I put the ticket on hold and thought I could get it issued at HNL airport when I arrived in the US - only to be told that they can't issue a ticket at the airport...

In the end a US-based friend got the tickets issued using his credit card.

In the 21st century, I feel this practice to be absolutely crazy - we are not talking about subsidised PSA / EAS flights, but a domestic F ticket. Why should the price go up if one doesn't have a US-based credit card?

Perhaps I should really just concentrate on putting all my miles on SQ i/o bothering with UA. :confused:

The fact that it's the 21st century doesn't alter the basic tenets of capitalism and greed.

I've seen it go both ways. In my experience, sometimes it's cheaper to use a U.S.-based card, sometimes it's cheaper to use a Canadian card. For that reason, I always price everything twice.

For future reference when booking tickets your PAYMENT details should be input as follows:

Address line 1: your sing/EUR address line 1
Address line 2: your sing/EUR address line 2
City: your sing/EUR city
Zip: any USA zip (I use 33316)
State: Florida (corresponds to above zip)
Country: USA

Majority of processors will accept a country mismatch so long as the f holders full name, address line 1, city, CCV and expiry all match.

Means it will be charged in USD btw

So your title is misleading. You clearly understand tbe concept of point of sale restrictions. They aren't like Peru, which is like your title, discriminatory based on your natl origin, they are based on the point if sale. I go to LAN and as a gringo, but a ticket from LIM to CUZ, I pay more that the Peruvian who bought the exact same booking 5 min later. That is against foreigners. You could of course go to HNL, find someone who could issue a ticket, even a travel agent, and pay the same for your HNL-STL flight that I would pay, an American, as long as we both utilized the same point of sale.

It's location discrimination, not nationality based.

Fastair, it is a discrimination regardless, which should be condemned.

It's a fare fence, just like advanced purchase requirement or minimum stay. They are economic methods called "price discrimination" which is one of the cornerstones of many revenue management systems based on supply and demand to maximize income. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_discrimination. Look under "types" tab, 3rd degree.

Why? :confused:

You may call it revenue management or some such thing but I call it discrimination. Not sure why you feel the need to defend UA here.

Gengar, why in the God's name not, and why do you think the same ticket should cost more if purchased somewhere else?

Sometimes the same ticket costs more if a pax purchases it one second after someone else. What about HODs and TODs? How about airlines treating elites better (or arguably worse, as in HODs/TODs) than others? Airlines (and everyone) discriminate all the time. A miniscule number of forms of discrimination have ever been deemed worthy of legislative action.

For gods sake people it's not descrimination, it's capitalism. Airline tickets at most (if not all) major airlines employing GDS have point of sale restrictions on where certain fares may be marketed/purchased. This can be for a number of reasons:

1. Competitive reasons: See OPs example. Also, google First Class fares from Colombo. You will see there is quite a market for international F originating there because the fares tend to be quite cheap (relatively). In short, they charge what the market will bear. If they think a Sinagaporean will pay more for a US domestic hop than an American, but less than a Sweede, that's up to them. Don't like it? Book elsewhere.

2. Regulatory reasons: Let's say I fire up Air Canada.com. I ask to fly YYZ-HAV. Fine as long as I have a Canadian CC and address. Put in a US CC and you'll get nixed due to OFAC. Same if I asked to fly, say JFK-HAV via YYZ. Government won't allow it, airline won't sell it.

3. Business Reasons: Its legal to fly to Venezuela and do business there. Most airlines will not sell a ticket paid for with a Venezuelan CC because, to repatriate the funds to the US, you must comply with draconian currency laws and an absurd "official" exchange rate. Doesn't make it worth the airlines' time or effort to do business there.

So as has been said before. Airline pricing is a fickle, advanced science that even those with years of experience in aviation don't always understand. You don't understand it, so don't call it something it isn't.

Does anyone know of an airline that doesn't ever charge significantly different prices based on point of sale?

Why are people calling this a POS issue? In all cases, the POS is identical. It's only the billing address that determines the price. It's like walking into a store and getting different prices if you give them a U.S. credit card versus a Canadian card. This is discrimination not based on purchase location, but based on where you happen to live or have your credit card billed.

So stupid question, but couldn't the OP just go to any US-based OTA (like Expedia or Orbitz) and ticket at the US price?

If you believe this is discrimination, then nothing in this forum can possibly change your mind, and I really don't understand your purpose here.

Living in SIN, I'm surprised you are not aware of the fare differences to be had based upon location of purchase, whether you are in Singapore or Malaysia or Indonesia. Likewise, a US traveler purchasing a ticket for travel in or to any of those places likely pays more than a "local" does sometimes. It's a way of life in Asia and perhaps other areas as well, and most folks realize and accept it's the name of the global travel game these days.

Sometimes--okay, often--UA is guilty of one thing or another, sometimes they are not. In your case, IMHO, no way; but if you truly feel that you are being discriminated against, recommend you contact UA directly. Perhaps their reply will not change your mind either, but it will be the last word.

As you already stated, there are plenty of other travel options at your disposal from Singapore.