When the only option is Basic Economy
Jun 29, 2018, 1:24 pm
#16
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The rbd of N is the mistake here. UA has been routinely matching BE and non-BE fares when they're not actively looking to sell BE. The intent is to sell the non-BE version of the fare, but to provide something that's combinable for someone who's booking a BE ticket in the other direction.
Jun 29, 2018, 1:26 pm
#17
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The rbd of N is the mistake here. UA has been routinely matching BE and non-BE fares when they're not actively looking to sell BE. The intent is to sell the non-BE version of the fare, but to provide something that's combinable for someone who's booking a BE ticket in the other direction.
Jun 29, 2018, 2:08 pm
#18
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The rbd of N is the mistake here. UA has been routinely matching BE and non-BE fares when they're not actively looking to sell BE. The intent is to sell the non-BE version of the fare, but to provide something that's combinable for someone who's booking a BE ticket in the other direction.
'B' fares are Basic Economy. They may only be combined with other B fares.
'D' fares are Deep Discount Economy, and always have a matching Basic Economy fare filed equal to the D fare tariff minus the fare differential (sometimes with a 0-day AP). They may be combined with other D fares, E fares, and F fares.
'E' fares are Discount and Regular Economy, and are those fares which are too expensive to have a Basic Economy differential fare. They may also be combined with fares of type D/E/F, except:
-ER/-EX fares are a special type in class E. They are always round-trip fares filed at the same price as a (usually one-way) B fare, and may only be combined with "regular" E fares, or F fares. In effect, you can get BE-for-the-price-of-Y, but only if in combination with a "sufficiently expensive" outbound.
'F' fares are First Class. They can be combined with D/E/F fares.
Here, an -ER fare was mis-filed with an rbd of N instead of K.
Jun 29, 2018, 2:38 pm
#19
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I think notifying DOT is the right approach and commend the OP for exercising his civic responsibility. United is offering a BE fare without labeling it as such. As a result, it’s deceptive advertising. Only a frequent United flyer would know that N fares are always BE fares.
Jun 29, 2018, 3:08 pm
#20
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There was nothing deceptive in that image. There's no evidence -- yet -- that a passenger who bought that fare would have had any of the restrictions of BE. The lack of PQMs are called out there -- it's tough to call it deceptive -- and we don't have any idea about upgrades or changes because the OP didn't book it.
Jun 29, 2018, 3:18 pm
#21
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There was nothing deceptive in that image. There's no evidence -- yet -- that a passenger who bought that fare would have had any of the restrictions of BE. The lack of PQMs are called out there -- it's tough to call it deceptive -- and we don't have any idea about upgrades or changes because the OP didn't book it.
Jun 29, 2018, 3:27 pm
#22
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If it's within 24 hours, you can cancel and get a full refund. Try booking it on the app. Set your search preferences to filter out the BE fares, and see if it books properly at the same fare.
Jun 29, 2018, 3:29 pm
#23
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Jun 29, 2018, 3:33 pm
#24
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Seat selection rules aren't covered by any specific DOT regulation, but I think I'd learn more towards the complaint in that instance. It does seem like bait and switch given that you explicitly tried to avoid BE.
What would work would be to do a search for L,S,T,W class or something, to find the next cheapest fare bucket.
Jun 29, 2018, 3:38 pm
#25
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The sole question is whether the fare rules for the ticket disclose the limitations. Beyond that, a DOT complaint is a waste of taxpayer money and simply feeds the growing narrative at DOT that most consumer complaints are simply dissatisfied customers who did not read the fare rules before checking the box certifying that they had.
Whether the practice is a good or a bad one won't matter.
Whether the practice is a good or a bad one won't matter.
Jun 29, 2018, 3:41 pm
#26
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The fare rules clearly don't disclose any changeability limitations, because it's not a BE fare. So, if UA then denied a change that the OP tried to make based upon the rbd being N, it's definitely complaint-worthy.
Jun 29, 2018, 4:39 pm
#27
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Can you clarify, did the restrictions come up AFTER purchase or before? If they came up after purchase, and were enforced as such while boarding, then if UA doesn’t resolve, a legit issue has occurred. If despite what you searched for, the services that were given were what you purchased, I don’t see this as a complaint, except as informational to UA. The contract becomes binding at purchase
Jun 29, 2018, 5:29 pm
#29
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It's times like this that I really wish UA would allow me to contact specific departments directly. If they had public access to their issue tracking system, issues like this could be fixed in hours. But trying to explain it to their first line support just isn't worth my time.
UA should pay the OP a bug bounty.
Jun 30, 2018, 1:48 pm
#30
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It's times like this that I really wish UA would allow me to contact specific departments directly. If they had public access to their issue tracking system, issues like this could be fixed in hours. But trying to explain it to their first line support just isn't worth my time.
