Jun 12, 19, 10:11 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
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.
Archive thread
-- 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.
Archive thread
Consolidated "Why is this UA fare so expensive?" thread
Jan 7, 18, 1:27 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: IAH & PHL
Programs: United Premier Silver
Posts: 326
Consolidated "Why is this UA fare so expensive?" thread
Each year my friends and I head out to LAS for Super Bowl Weekend. I always book first and the fares have ranged from some really excellent P fares several years ago ($550) to a more normal $800-900ish the last couple years if memory serves correct.
Had a little bit of sticker shock when I started tracking flights last week. Leaving Thursday or Friday February 1st or 2nd has the outbound IAH-LAS either not available up front or at $1633! Even if Saturday they’re at $581 with only a few seats left. Most of the return legs also clock in at $1633. $3200 for first? No thanks.
I've never seen them that high for this route!
Had a little bit of sticker shock when I started tracking flights last week. Leaving Thursday or Friday February 1st or 2nd has the outbound IAH-LAS either not available up front or at $1633! Even if Saturday they’re at $581 with only a few seats left. Most of the return legs also clock in at $1633. $3200 for first? No thanks.
I've never seen them that high for this route!
Feb 6, 18, 11:24 am
#2
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: MRY - CNX - TXL
Programs: UA 1K / *G / Marriott PE / Expedia Gold+ / Hertz PC
Posts: 7,058
Not SOOO expensive but I am trying to book TXL-SFO/LAX-TXL for a friend in Y. UA, LH, BA, AF are all about $1400-$1800 for a week the end of March. This is the second time I've booked TATL Y, am I too late for a cheaper fare? Should I wait a few more weeks until it's 3-4 weeks out?
Feb 6, 18, 1:31 pm
#3
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 2,510
Not SOOO expensive but I am trying to book TXL-SFO/LAX-TXL for a friend in Y. UA, LH, BA, AF are all about $1400-$1800 for a week the end of March. This is the second time I've booked TATL Y, am I too late for a cheaper fare? Should I wait a few more weeks until it's 3-4 weeks out?
I would have guessed $1200, but $1400 doesn't seem out of bounds for late march west-coast-to-non-hub-European-city. I do see you can do it for ~$1,000 on TK or WW if you pick your dates right and don't mind layovers.
Another option is BER-NYC non-stop (that's the cheapest BER-USA market ime) r/t and then buy domestic legs. TXL-EWR is $849 non-stop on UA or $566 with 1 stop on SWISS. That's a big budget for domestic flights and if your friend can find something fun to do in NYC for a night then you can view it as a bonus rather than drudgery.
I see you can also do FRA-SFO / LAX-FRA for $1179 and find your own way BER-FRA on LCC or DB.
With AB out of the picture you have to connect one way or the other...if you break your ticket you can often save a couple hundred.
As for "buy now or wait", I think about 4-6 weeks out is the sweet spot BUT sometimes there are great last-minute deals. But sometimes not. And you have to be flexible on dates and gateway cities / possibly re-positioning. For example if you leave tomorrow from TXL for LAX on UA/LH you're paying $2k r/t. If you're willing to leave on Sat 2/10 and return following Saturday, it drops to $720. I'm guessing both flights were somewhere inbetween if priced out a few weeks ago.
Feb 6, 18, 5:02 pm
#4
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: MRY - CNX - TXL
Programs: UA 1K / *G / Marriott PE / Expedia Gold+ / Hertz PC
Posts: 7,058
I've always dealt with either J or W for GPU fares to TXL. In July we got his September ticket for $550, sadly this is his specific Easter break because if you look mid-April now you can get the same flights for like $600-$700. If he can come a day earlier it looks like we may be able to do WOW through KEF.
Feb 6, 18, 7:54 pm
#5
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.97MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 65,152
Feb 6, 18, 9:11 pm
#6
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: NYC (Primarily EWR)
Programs: UA 1K / *G, Marriott Bonvoy Gold; Avis PC
Posts: 8,824
Seeing what feels like crazy fares for a couple trips I need to make later...EWR-MSY RT is showing for near $600 RT in late July (which has to be offseason in New Orleans...the weather is miserable then). EWR-LAS at end of June is showing even higher, like $800 RT. Makes me wonder if things are repricing higher due to oil prices? That's a bit nuts IMO...
Feb 7, 18, 12:04 am
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 20,324
Seeing what feels like crazy fares for a couple trips I need to make later...EWR-MSY RT is showing for near $600 RT in late July (which has to be offseason in New Orleans...the weather is miserable then). EWR-LAS at end of June is showing even higher, like $800 RT. Makes me wonder if things are repricing higher due to oil prices? That's a bit nuts IMO...
For domestic trips, outside of holiday or other peak times (CES, Mardi Gras, whatever), the best fares are usually sometime between 2 and 6 weeks prior to departure. I rarely see a great fare months in advance.
Last edited by jsloan; Feb 7, 18 at 10:14 am Reason: Added "usually" -- no such thing as certainty when it comes to finding low airfare :)
Feb 7, 18, 8:15 am
#8
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: LBB
Programs: UA 1K 1MM ★G | Marriott LTT | Hilton ♦ | Hertz PC | Global Entry TSA Pre ✓
Posts: 2,820
It's really early to be planning trips for June or July. UA has plenty of time to offer discounts later if they find that seats aren't selling as quickly as they'd hoped.
For domestic trips, outside of holiday or other peak times (CES, Mardi Gras, whatever), the best fares are sometime between 2 and 6 weeks prior to departure. I rarely see a great fare months in advance.
For domestic trips, outside of holiday or other peak times (CES, Mardi Gras, whatever), the best fares are sometime between 2 and 6 weeks prior to departure. I rarely see a great fare months in advance.
Feb 9, 18, 10:02 am
#9
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: IAH
Programs: UA Gold
Posts: 72
Has anyone seen G fares on SFO-IAH recently? I book this flight nearly monthly and the last time I scored G on one leg was 12/16, but the return was L. The last time I got G on both legs was in May of 2017. AA has round trips (at odd times, but not too bad connections) going for $108 in regular economy, the cheapest I've been able to find is $361 RT in BE based on L fares. Used to be that you could get G for under $200 back when Spirit and Frontier operated nonstop flights between IAH and the SF Bay Area, but they stopped doing that some time in the past year...
Feb 9, 18, 11:17 pm
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 13,895
Has anyone seen G fares on SFO-IAH recently? I book this flight nearly monthly and the last time I scored G on one leg was 12/16, but the return was L. The last time I got G on both legs was in May of 2017. AA has round trips (at odd times, but not too bad connections) going for $108 in regular economy, the cheapest I've been able to find is $361 RT in BE based on L fares. Used to be that you could get G for under $200 back when Spirit and Frontier operated nonstop flights between IAH and the SF Bay Area, but they stopped doing that some time in the past year...
Code:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Cxr Basis BC Cbn Price Tp AP Min Max Days Rf
----------------------------------------------------------------------
UA LEK2AKDS L Y $191.00 RT 21 S 30 TW S N
UA TEG4AKDS T Y $201.00 RT 14 S 30 MTWR S N
UA WEA2AFEN W Y $262.00 RT 21 S N
UA VEA4AFEN V Y $307.00 RT 14 S N
UA QFA4AFEN Q Y $344.00 RT 14 [1] N
UA HEA7AFEN H Y $387.00 RT 7 S N
UA UFA7AFEN U Y $462.00 RT 7 [1] N
UA EFA0AFEN E Y $565.00 RT [1] N
UA MAA0AFEN M Y $665.00 OW N
UA BAA0AFEY B Y $985.00 OW Y
UA YAA0AFEY Y Y $1,096.00 OW Y
UA Y Y Y $6,121.00 OW Y
[1] WHEN DEPARTURE FROM FARE ORIGIN IS SUN THEN TRAVEL FROM
LAST STOPOVER MUST COMMENCE NO EARLIER THAN THE FIRST
FRI AFTER DEPARTURE FROM FARE ORIGIN
OR - WHEN DEPARTURE FROM FARE ORIGIN IS MON THROUGH FRI
THEN TRAVEL FROM LAST STOPOVER MUST COMMENCE NO
EARLIER THAN THE FIRST SAT AFTER DEPARTURE FROM
FARE ORIGIN
OR - WHEN DEPARTURE FROM FARE ORIGIN IS SAT THEN TRAVEL
FROM LAST STOPOVER MUST COMMENCE NO EARLIER THAN
THE FIRST SUN AFTER DEPARTURE FROM FARE ORIGIN.
Feb 25, 18, 10:50 am
#11
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: NYC (Primarily EWR)
Programs: UA 1K / *G, Marriott Bonvoy Gold; Avis PC
Posts: 8,824
Is it fare to say that if US-AKL is showing ~$3k RT in Y right now at the end of the year, it's unlikely to get any lower? I know it's an extremely popular time of the year to go to that part of the world.
Feb 25, 18, 12:55 pm
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 13,895
Last edited by findark; Feb 25, 18 at 1:08 pm
Mar 4, 18, 7:01 pm
#13
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: DCA, IAD (not BWI if I can help it)
Programs: UA 1MM 1K, Marriott Gold, Hyatt Explorist, status-free on AA, AS, B6, DL, WN, Amtrak, etc.
Posts: 1,455
I’ve got a wedding to go to in SAN at the end of May, and UA’s IAD-SAN nonstops are all $920 on the 29th, with nonstops back to IAD on June 1 just as bad. I realize that UA has a monopoly there, but that doesn’t seem sufficient to explain this. And according to the seatmaps, almost nobody else is buying these fares.
Mar 4, 18, 7:46 pm
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 20,324
Ive got a wedding to go to in SAN at the end of May, and UAs IAD-SAN nonstops are all $920 on the 29th, with nonstops back to IAD on June 1 just as bad. I realize that UA has a monopoly there, but that doesnt seem sufficient to explain this. And according to the seatmaps, almost nobody else is buying these fares.
If there is space available on the Friday flights on the day of departure, you may be able to make a Same-Day change; for example, if you book the 8 AM Saturday departure, and there's space available in your fare class on either the 12:20 PM or 10:00 PM Friday flights -- and you don't book Basic Economy -- you'd be able to change to it for $75 (waived for Premier Gold and above). That still works out to be a lot less than $1839, although you do run the risk of the Friday flights being sold out.
Mar 19, 18, 9:36 pm
#15
Moderator, Omni, Omni/PR, Omni/Games, FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Between DCA and IAD
Programs: UA 1K MM; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 66,285
What's up with WAS-Japan this year? I have been eyeing September travel to several markets, and am getting Y fares which price not much below what I've paid for J as recently as a year or so back (mid-to-upper $2k range). I'd say it was just too far in advance, and the lowest fares published are Q, but I've checked April, May, June, and September, all with similar fares, and have been checking those dates for a few months running now.
These are at least $1k higher than what I paid for Y 2 years ago, and though I know the last paid J trip I had to Japan was a bargain-basement discount fare, these Y fares are within $1k of that.
Decided on a May trip to TPE instead of NRT or KIX or CTS simply due to it being $1.3k cheaper and somewhere I haven't been.
These are at least $1k higher than what I paid for Y 2 years ago, and though I know the last paid J trip I had to Japan was a bargain-basement discount fare, these Y fares are within $1k of that.
Decided on a May trip to TPE instead of NRT or KIX or CTS simply due to it being $1.3k cheaper and somewhere I haven't been.
