Feb 16, 2016, 6:52 pm
Last edit by: findark
Table 1: United First fare differential versus same fare in United Economy
x indicates that there is no normal nonstop service between the city pair. Up to two transfers (connections) are free in each direction.
‡ indicates there is no /UPDI fare published for this route. Amount is the difference between lowest available UP fare and current Economy (lowest), provided for reference.
-- indicates United does not publish a fare for this city pair.
Table 1.5: United First fare differential as a function of flight distance (partly speculation)
Table 3: Minimum fare class with matched United First fare
- indicates no /UPDI fare is published for the route
‡ indicates the minimum matched fare is also the minimum published fare
* indicates that there is a lower, unmatched fare with the same basis letter as the lowest matched fare
The United Economy booking code hierarchy is: Y B M E U H Q V W S T L K G N
Code:
lax | 99 --
sea | 129 129 --
den | 129 129 159 --
dfw | 159 159 199x 129 --
msp | 199 199 159x 129 129x --
iah | 199 159 199 129 79 159 --
ord | 199 199 199 129 129 99 129 --
atl | 249 199x 249x 159 129x 129 129 129 --
iad | 299 249 249 159 159 129 159 129 129 --
ewr | 460‡ 451‡ 299 199 159 159 159 129 129 79 --
fll | 299 249x 299x 199 159x 159x 129 159 -- 129 159x --
bos | 299 299x 299x 199 199x 159x 199 129 129x 99 79 159x
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
sfo lax sea den dfw msp iah ord atl iad ewr fll
‡ indicates there is no /UPDI fare published for this route. Amount is the difference between lowest available UP fare and current Economy (lowest), provided for reference.
-- indicates United does not publish a fare for this city pair.
Table 1.5: United First fare differential as a function of flight distance (partly speculation)
Code:
total distance fare differential
min max ($)
------------------------------------
299 79
300 499 99
500 999 129
1000 1499 159
1500 1999 199
2000 2399 249
2400 299
Code:
lax | K -
sea | K K -
den | K K K -
dfw | K K L K -
msp | K‡ K L K K -
iah | L‡ K* K‡ K K‡ T‡ -
ord | L K* L‡ L K* K* K -
atl | K K L‡ K K K‡ K K -
iad | T‡ K* L‡ K‡ K K* K K K -
ewr | - - K K K K‡ K K* K* Q -
fll | K K L K K K K K - K K -
bos | K* L‡ L K L T K K L K K L
---------------------------------------------------------------
sfo lax sea den dfw msp iah ord atl iad ewr fll
‡ indicates the minimum matched fare is also the minimum published fare
* indicates that there is a lower, unmatched fare with the same basis letter as the lowest matched fare
The United Economy booking code hierarchy is: Y B M E U H Q V W S T L K G N
A Comprehensive Look at Domestic First Class Monetization (FCM) on United
May 18, 2018, 1:16 pm
#106
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 3
Hi,
Is there a way to understand your chances of being offered a paid upgrade (before checkin but after post purchase pop up) before booking? It seems hit and miss for me. I have to book travel thru a third party site for business and then I log into United and sometimes im offered the ability to buy up with cash and sometimes I'm not. Other times it seems to pop up after a few weeks. It would be great to know what flights have a higher chance of this offer prior to booking so I can purchase accordingly. I apologize if this has been answered elsewhere, I have done quite a bit of searching on FT and havent found the exact answer I'm looking for. Should I just add Z,P to fare class search and ensure those are available prior to booking?
Thanks!
Is there a way to understand your chances of being offered a paid upgrade (before checkin but after post purchase pop up) before booking? It seems hit and miss for me. I have to book travel thru a third party site for business and then I log into United and sometimes im offered the ability to buy up with cash and sometimes I'm not. Other times it seems to pop up after a few weeks. It would be great to know what flights have a higher chance of this offer prior to booking so I can purchase accordingly. I apologize if this has been answered elsewhere, I have done quite a bit of searching on FT and havent found the exact answer I'm looking for. Should I just add Z,P to fare class search and ensure those are available prior to booking?
Thanks!
Last edited by DJ_Z; May 18, 2018 at 1:21 pm Reason: More context
May 18, 2018, 1:23 pm
#107
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 3
Thanks for the welcome. Was referring to the pop up offer some get when they complete their economy purchase thru United.com offering them to buy up to first immediately after they complete their purchase. I will never get this offer because I have to purchase the ticket thru our company portal.
May 18, 2018, 3:19 pm
#108
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,448
Welcome to FT!
May 18, 2018, 4:05 pm
#109
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: HKG • Ex SFO, NYC
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP; Marriott Amb; Hyatt Globalist; Shangri-la Diamond; IHG SpireAmb; Hilton D; Accor G
Posts: 3,319
I'm pretty sure you can always go to "manage reservation" and "upgrade" and one of the options will be a buy-up to the cheapest J/F cabin fare. You can also buy up to any fare class by calling in.
May 18, 2018, 8:14 pm
#110
Join Date: Aug 2011
Programs: United Plat, SPG Plat, Hilton Gold, IHG Club, Hyatt Discoverist, Hertz President, Avis President
Posts: 64
..though sometimes you have to have the cheapest far already picked out, call in, get a ridiculously expensive, "upgrade" offer that cost more then buy the new ticket. ...inform the agent you would rather cancel and buy new and wait 20 to 30 minutes while the work with the "pricing desk" to fix your upgrade.
May 18, 2018, 10:35 pm
#111
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,827
you can see that cost by using the online change flight but ned to call to get the change fee waived.
Jun 4, 2018, 3:04 am
#112
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,448
Surprised to find a relatively high Y-F differential for SFO-PHX fares of $224 (for date of travel 6/15). Confirmed on EF as applicable up and down the fare table (i.e., $224 differential for all fare bases). Interestingly, I was offered a buy-up at purchase for $139, which is much closer to what I would expect as the differential on this route.
I wonder if UA is experimenting with fare structure again. I do think they've dropped the differential too low on many of the west coast routes.
I'm burning RPUs - these are 320s, and besides, where else am I going to use them? Return cleared at booking, outbound waitlisted (booked 5/12).
I wonder if UA is experimenting with fare structure again. I do think they've dropped the differential too low on many of the west coast routes.
I'm burning RPUs - these are 320s, and besides, where else am I going to use them? Return cleared at booking, outbound waitlisted (booked 5/12).
Jun 4, 2018, 8:42 am
#113
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,404
I think most of this is attributable to a rather onerous Q schedule applied only to the premium fares. UA has been doing this for quite a while, even when competitors don't match it, and I've never quite understood it. The difference in base fare (including tax) I see is $144 (which is up $5 from the expected $139). The rest is a summer-heavy Q schedule from e.g.:
Code:
AND - MISCELLANEOUS/OTHER SURCHARGE OF USD 74.42 PER
FARE COMPONENT WILL BE ADDED TO THE APPLICABLE
FARE PER ANY PASSENGER ON THU/FRI/SAT/SUN/MON
FROM 14JUN18 THROUGH 01JUL18.
NOTE - TEXT BELOW NOT VALIDATED FOR AUTOPRICING.
THIS PEAK TRAVEL SURCHARGE IS ASSESSED ON A FARE
COMPONENT BASIS.
AND - MISCELLANEOUS/OTHER SURCHARGE OF USD 74.42 PER
FARE COMPONENT WILL BE ADDED TO THE APPLICABLE
FARE PER ANY PASSENGER ON THU/FRI/SAT/SUN/MON
FROM 07JUL18 THROUGH 06AUG18.
NOTE - TEXT BELOW NOT VALIDATED FOR AUTOPRICING.
THIS PEAK TRAVEL SURCHARGE IS ASSESSED ON A FARE
COMPONENT BASIS.
Aug 22, 2020, 9:02 pm
#114
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Floating around
Programs: UA 1K (1MM), DL Gold (1MM), Marriott LTT
Posts: 10,342
I've heard of it on FT many times but never really saw it myself. Well, just ran across this on United.com. First class is cheaper than the main economy fare on a domestic ticket. The main economy fare ("U") is $299 while first class ("Z") is $283. It's a super short domestic hop but one I need to take anyway. I thought there was another thread that had this data but as usual the search functionality on FT is awful and I can't find the thread.
-RM
-RM
Aug 22, 2020, 9:26 pm
#115
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Honolulu Harbor
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 15,014
On a lot of flights nowadays, each coach passenger has more space than a F passenger. Not due to seat size, but to passenger density. UA is pricing the possible higher F density on your flight lower than economy 
Not really...
Not really...
Aug 22, 2020, 9:30 pm
#116
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,404
Most times I have seen this recently, F is matching a BE fare with no Y fare, or it's just an error.
Aug 28, 2021, 9:06 pm
#117
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 302
first class pricing and upgrades
So I was booked on a trip from PUJ via ORD to PDX. United app was showing $148 per segment for an upgrade to first. I did change enfire flight to first for $214 (i was in K before).
I love pandemic for that kind of a deals.
I love pandemic for that kind of a deals.
Aug 28, 2021, 9:49 pm
#119
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 302
