Trying to understand nonsensical pricing
#16
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: GVA (Greater Vancouver Area)
Programs: DREAD Gold; UA 1.035MM; Bonvoy Au-197; PCC Elite+; CCC Elite+; MSC C-12; CWC Au-197; WoH Dis
Posts: 52,110
100% true. "I don't understand X" is not the same as "X is irrational." It's purely a case of not having all the data and/or experience that the other party has.
#17
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2000
Location: TPA for now. Hopefully LIS for retirement
Posts: 13,637
Yes, there is. You go on to explain it yourself:
It is not a bug. The rationale is that the airline has determined that the market will support a $1400 fare from A to C, which is what it is selling. That the routing happens to pass through B based on its route structure is irrelevant (to the airline). It could just have easily have passed through X, Y or Z.
They do it because they can. If they figure out that the market can bear a higher price for a ticket from A to B compared to a ticket from A to C via B, then they will charge more for A to B than A to C via B.
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Feb 22, 2019 at 10:20 pm Reason: merging consecutive posts by same member
#18
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Houston, TX, USA
Programs: UA 1K, AA Lifetime Platinum, DL Platinum, Honors Diamond, Bonvoy Titanium, Hertz Platinum
Posts: 7,954
If both the tickets are on UA you should book them separately. I have never had an issue with checking bags through or getting reaccomodated due to delayed flights even on separate tickets. For your peace of mind look for ~3hrs to connect at the hub if one of the legs is international.
#19
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: DSM, BKK or anywhere with an airport
Programs: UA 2P, HH Gold
Posts: 1,018
These MIT OpenCourse classes can help; I found it very interesting how airlines set prices:
Airline Management
Revenue Management I
Revenue Management II
Airline Management
Revenue Management I
Revenue Management II
#20
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Vancouver, BC
Programs: UA MM *Gold, Accor Silver
Posts: 1,850
I found a fare that has no reason or rhyme to it
I want to fly one way SEA YVR
UA's fare is over USD $200.00 plus the tax
If I book it as SEA SFO YVR the fare is USD $52.00 plus the tax
I want to fly one way SEA YVR
UA's fare is over USD $200.00 plus the tax
If I book it as SEA SFO YVR the fare is USD $52.00 plus the tax
#21
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,568
Some people value their time. (less than an hour vs over 5 hours) But some like their MR -- but they are a minority.
There are different competitive pressures on the various segments.
#22
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: San Francisco/Sydney
Programs: UA 1K/MM, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Something, IHG Gold, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 8,131
Looking at one of the days that fare is available, UA is $82 total. Delta and Alaska both have direct flights for $73, and Air Canada is $84.
United knows that nobody in their right might is going to pay $200+ to fly via SFO. Some people will just pick the lower fare, but others might be happy to pay a little more to fly United for whatever reason, so they'll take your $82 to fill a seat that they likely decided they weren't going to be able to fill anyway and fly you via SFO.
United's options are "Charge $300 and don't sell any seats" or "Charge $82 and sell a few". If they thought their planes were going to be on full on that day they'd probably pick option 1 and save the seats to see to people flying SEA-SFO (for $200 as you said), but if they've predicted they'll have spare seats they might as well flog a few off for $82 and at least make something from them...
This is exactly why Hidden City Ticketing is a thing - people realize they can buy SEA-SFO-YVR for $82, but just fly to SFO. (And then get to the airport and get denied check-in because they don't have a visa/eTA/etc for Canada and blame the airline as they were only planning to fly to SFO anyway...)
#23
Join Date: May 2010
Location: AVP & PEK
Programs: UA 1K 1.8MM
Posts: 6,275
#24
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: USA
Programs: MYOB
Posts: 1,284
A to Hub routing costs $200
Hub to C routing costs $500
A to C (routing through Hub) costs $1400.
genuinely curious if this is a bug or if there is a rationale for this pricing. Had some issue with this maybe 6-7years ago, but suddenly am noticing it to be occurring much more frequently...specifically when trying to book international routes. Obviously if I have to connect to arrive in (say) Hong Kong, I want the airline to acknowledge contractually that my end destination in HKG, in case my flight to the hub is delayed, but not sure its worth doubling the ticket price.
Hub to C routing costs $500
A to C (routing through Hub) costs $1400.
genuinely curious if this is a bug or if there is a rationale for this pricing. Had some issue with this maybe 6-7years ago, but suddenly am noticing it to be occurring much more frequently...specifically when trying to book international routes. Obviously if I have to connect to arrive in (say) Hong Kong, I want the airline to acknowledge contractually that my end destination in HKG, in case my flight to the hub is delayed, but not sure its worth doubling the ticket price.
Segment 1 A - Hub
Segment 2 Hub - C
Does it come out as 700, 1400, or something in between (or higher)?
Is this for a one way, or Round Trip?
#25
Join Date: Jul 2011
Programs: AA Plat, UA 1K>Plat>moving to Silver
Posts: 2,067
#26
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 629
Here's a good one:
April 7
OGG-DEN in economy, $1,329
April 7
OGG-DEN-YYZ in economy, $239
I get "markets" and "demand" but this is bananas. ADD an additional international flight at ticket price goes down by 82% or $1,090.
Totally bonkers
April 7
OGG-DEN in economy, $1,329
April 7
OGG-DEN-YYZ in economy, $239
I get "markets" and "demand" but this is bananas. ADD an additional international flight at ticket price goes down by 82% or $1,090.
Totally bonkers
#27
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 629
The numbers in first class were something like:
OGG-ABQ via DEN $1,400
OGG-DEN + DEN - ABQ (same exact flights and itinerary) $777
Was flabbergasted
#28
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Houston
Programs: UA Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 12,650
OGG-YYZ: Lots of different one stop options you can take, UA lacks a competitive advantage.
Airline revenue management: make money where you have advantages, take what you can get everywhere else.
#29
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 14,854
I did this for OGG-DEN-ABQ, and multi-city came out much lower, even though it was a 3-hour connection on the exact same itinerary.
The numbers in first class were something like:
OGG-ABQ via DEN $1,400
OGG-DEN + DEN - ABQ (same exact flights and itinerary) $777
Was flabbergasted
The numbers in first class were something like:
OGG-ABQ via DEN $1,400
OGG-DEN + DEN - ABQ (same exact flights and itinerary) $777
Was flabbergasted
The only way to truly verify you are getting all the possible options are to either do the multi-city searches via reasonable connecting hubs on UA.com or to use Google Flights or an OTA, where these reasonable options do tend to show up properly.
#30
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: CLE
Programs: NEXUS, MileagePlus Silver, Frontier Diamond, IHG Spire, Marriott Gold, Hilton Diamond, Hertz PC
Posts: 263
I work in the field service industry for industrial power. Since we bill internally at $140/hour, it is usually better to take a (sometimes significantly) more expensive flight to save some time. Just depends on what you, or whomever is paying for the ticket, value.