New "Budget Economy" fares
#61
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Washington, DC, USA
Programs: UA-1Kmm, AA-EX Plt mm-, Hilton Diamond,
Posts: 1,093
While I applaud the creative thinking on UA to get more revenue for pax who want this... I fear for how this will be implemented when it comes to business travel agencies.
I have to book all work travel via Egencia and Egencia only gives the lowest fare option for each flight/carrier.
If UA flights get priced into this new fare bucket by default, I won't have an option to pick a higher non-Budget Economy fare.
I have to book all work travel via Egencia and Egencia only gives the lowest fare option for each flight/carrier.
If UA flights get priced into this new fare bucket by default, I won't have an option to pick a higher non-Budget Economy fare.
#62
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: DEN
Programs: UA 1P-1MM, Marriott LT Titanium
Posts: 3,936
For my work, we had a warning in our previous booking system (getthere.net with BCD travel doing bookings) about the DL fares that was on the main login screen. We just moved my company to Concur and there isn't any warning. I'm not sure if the DL E fares are filtered out or not.
My concern is that UA will not make these easy to filter out making it an extra pain for business travelers. This, of course, assumes that the new fares would apply to the times that I'm traveling for business and that my company actually gets Concur to filter them out.
My concern is that UA will not make these easy to filter out making it an extra pain for business travelers. This, of course, assumes that the new fares would apply to the times that I'm traveling for business and that my company actually gets Concur to filter them out.
#63
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: PHL, EWR
Programs: UA Gold; AA; Amtrak Select Plus;HH Diamond;Hyatt Disc;Hertz PC; Total Wine Grand Reserve!
Posts: 2,404
So will this just be a stealth way for UA to raise their economy fares?. Will what is now the cheapest economy fare simply become the new "no frills" fare and thus will one have to buy a more expensive (than what is currently offered) fare in order to get E+ seating and other benefits?
#64
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Houston
Programs: UA Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 12,698
So will this just be a stealth way for UA to raise their economy fares?. Will what is now the cheapest economy fare simply become the new "no frills" fare and thus will one have to buy a more expensive (than what is currently offered) fare in order to get E+ seating and other benefits?
#65
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Programs: United MileagePlus Silver, Nexus, Global Entry
Posts: 8,798
So will this just be a stealth way for UA to raise their economy fares?. Will what is now the cheapest economy fare simply become the new "no frills" fare and thus will one have to buy a more expensive (than what is currently offered) fare in order to get E+ seating and other benefits?
To earn 100% qualifying miles, get advance seat selection, if gold - get a 'preferred' seat (think E+) have an upgrade etc. option you had to buy a "Flex" economy fare.
The base "Tango" fare offered none of these.
On a typical Vancouver - Toronto return trip, Flex is about ~$150 USD more.
At my office Concur only selects Tango fares for business travel.
#66
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Programs: United MileagePlus Silver, Nexus, Global Entry
Posts: 8,798
The Saturday night obviously would be, but I have to assume if UA follows AC's path this will be the first requirement to disappear.
#67
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Programs: United MileagePlus Silver, Nexus, Global Entry
Posts: 8,798
#68
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: SFO
Programs: OZ Diamond/*G, IHG Diamond Amb, Hilton Gold
Posts: 2,243
For my work, we had a warning in our previous booking system (getthere.net with BCD travel doing bookings) about the DL fares that was on the main login screen. We just moved my company to Concur and there isn't any warning. I'm not sure if the DL E fares are filtered out or not.
My concern is that UA will not make these easy to filter out making it an extra pain for business travelers. This, of course, assumes that the new fares would apply to the times that I'm traveling for business and that my company actually gets Concur to filter them out.
My concern is that UA will not make these easy to filter out making it an extra pain for business travelers. This, of course, assumes that the new fares would apply to the times that I'm traveling for business and that my company actually gets Concur to filter them out.
#69
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Houston
Programs: UA Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 12,698
It's mostly on the TAs to make them easy to filter, and the buyers to choose that filtering. Booking through UA directly will no doubt be easy to filter.
#70
Join Date: Dec 2015
Programs: Hilton Diamond, UA Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 133
I'd guess that using strictly the N fare class to denote basic economy would make the process of filtering by corporate booking engines relatively painless.
#71
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Programs: United MileagePlus Silver, Nexus, Global Entry
Posts: 8,798
UA wants you to book through their site anyway.
#72
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: San Francisco
Programs: UA 1K, Citi Prestige, AMEX Platinum, SPG Gold
Posts: 720
Again, my opinion is that these fares don't even benefit corporate travelers, particularly those that end up making changes on occasion. It's one thing to need to pay a fee for changes...in fact, its often cheaper to make two or three changes then buy a ticket that doesn't incur a fee for this. But without allowing any changes whatsoever, these become throwaway, and will likely cost coporates more. Smart companies will probably filter out these fares - but I'd guess not all will. Its going to be up to each company, as it is now with other items like who will allow non-stops over connections for a premium, etc.
In the case of budget fares, with no change fees, let's say the whole $400 would be lost, so now this adds effectively $40/ticket instead of $20. What that means is that if the Budget fares save more than $20 compared to the nonrefundable fares, then they are probably worth it in terms of flight expenses.
Now where the budget fares might not be worth it is in terms of time and convenience for employees. What happens very often is that I fly somewhere, finish my meeting early or get to the airport faster than anticipated, and then standby for a slightly earlier flight home. The budget fares will almost certainly not allow this. Now the question is whether employers pay an extra $30 for people to have this flexibility, which is hard to justify on strictly financial terms--it's more about morale.
That said, UA presumably doesn't want business travelers buying budget fares, and they have multiple tools at their disposal to ensure this doesn't happen. For instance, they could institute a Saturday stay requirement. They could exempt budget fares from corporate discounts. They could say budget fares don't count towards the minimum spend amount required by most corporate discount contracts. So there's no need to freak out yet, as this could still work out and even improve things. (E.g., maybe it means we can still get aisle seats when booking only a few days inadvance--something that seems to have gotten better recently anyway.)
#73
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Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
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Now where the budget fares might not be worth it is in terms of time and convenience for employees. What happens very often is that I fly somewhere, finish my meeting early or get to the airport faster than anticipated, and then standby for a slightly earlier flight home. The budget fares will almost certainly not allow this. Now the question is whether employers pay an extra $30 for people to have this flexibility, which is hard to justify on strictly financial terms--it's more about morale.
I explain to my clients that hard travel costs are in most cases incidental compared to the costs of my time. Make me wait three hours at the airport rather than getting on the earlier flight that's departing right now? That's probably going to cost the client 2x (or more) the price of the entire ticket.
#74
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: San Francisco
Programs: UA 1K, Citi Prestige, AMEX Platinum, SPG Gold
Posts: 720
For hourly billers - including lawyers, consultants, and accountants, "inconvenience" translates directly into client dollars. Typically lots of them.
I explain to my clients that hard travel costs are in most cases incidental compared to the costs of my time. Make me wait three hours at the airport rather than getting on the earlier flight that's departing right now? That's probably going to cost the client 2x (or more) the price of the entire ticket.
I explain to my clients that hard travel costs are in most cases incidental compared to the costs of my time. Make me wait three hours at the airport rather than getting on the earlier flight that's departing right now? That's probably going to cost the client 2x (or more) the price of the entire ticket.
#75
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 1999
Posts: 11,475
Interestingly I noticed, how certain flights show lower booking classes sold out, yet the lowest fare class "N" still is available. Example:
UA 373 IAH - IAD
08/17/16 11:50 AM
08/17/16 4:00 PM 739
F9 C9 A9 D9 Z8 P7 Y9 B9 M9 E9 U9 H9 Q9 V9 W9 S0 T0 L0 K0 G0 N9
In this case S, T, L, K and G are "0", while N is still "9".
UA 373 IAH - IAD
08/17/16 11:50 AM
08/17/16 4:00 PM 739
F9 C9 A9 D9 Z8 P7 Y9 B9 M9 E9 U9 H9 Q9 V9 W9 S0 T0 L0 K0 G0 N9
In this case S, T, L, K and G are "0", while N is still "9".