Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > United Airlines | MileagePlus
Reload this Page >

PP Pricing AKL-SFO-LHR more than Polaris. - why?

PP Pricing AKL-SFO-LHR more than Polaris. - why?

Old Dec 4, 2019, 1:30 pm
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: NZ
Programs: UA1k 2.5mm NZ Elite IHG
Posts: 12
PP Pricing AKL-SFO-LHR more than Polaris. - why?

I want to fly AKL-SFO-LHR return in late March. I want to book PP to be sure of a good seat in case my upgrade to Polaris fails. The price for PP exceeds that of Polaris!
Any thoughts?
FU24 is offline  
Old Dec 4, 2019, 1:35 pm
  #2  
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
Originally Posted by FU24
...The price for PP exceeds that of Polaris!
Any thoughts?
That can happen in airline pricing.

Domestic unrestricted Y (and even as low as M fares) is often more than Domestic discountF

Availability of PP in O fare with Polaris in P fare can make this happen.

Note the "cheaper" fare is likely to have more restrictions on change / refundability
writerguyfl and wxguy like this.
WineCountryUA is offline  
Old Dec 4, 2019, 1:36 pm
  #3  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,324
Buy Polaris?

It's hard to say anything else without inventory counts, or even what the possible prices are.
findark is offline  
Old Dec 4, 2019, 2:12 pm
  #4  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Floating around
Programs: UA 1K (1MM), DL Gold (1MM), Marriott LTT
Posts: 10,327
@findark is right. Or, a misfiled fare that you should jump on quickly.

But in all likelihood it's because only "O" is available for PP and "P" is open for Polaris where P can be cheaper than O. Of course, "O" is usually fully flexible while "P" is usually very restricted.

-RM
RobOnLI is online now  
Old Dec 4, 2019, 2:25 pm
  #5  
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: DAY/CMH
Programs: UA MileagePlus
Posts: 2,474
I almost bought a PP fare that was lower than either Economy or Basic Economy recently. IND-CDG for $837 r/t, if I remember right. Rather regret letting it go by.
ajGoes is offline  
Old Dec 4, 2019, 3:11 pm
  #6  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: NZ
Programs: UA1k 2.5mm NZ Elite IHG
Posts: 12
Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
That can happen in airline pricing.

Domestic unrestricted Y (and even as low as M fares) is often more than Domestic discountF

Availability of PP in O fare with Polaris in P fare can make this happen.

Note the "cheaper" fare is likely to have more restrictions on change / refundability
Heres the problem. AkL -SFO = NZ$ 3200 return in PP AKL-LHR= NZ$15,847 return in PP. SFO- LHR =NZ$2839
So if I marry the 2 airfares I get NZ$6039 vs NZ$15847. Outrageous.
FU24 is offline  
Old Dec 4, 2019, 3:14 pm
  #7  
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
Originally Posted by FU24
Heres the problem. AkL -SFO = NZ$ 3200 return in PP AKL-LHR= NZ$15,847 return in PP. SFO- LHR =NZ$2839
So if I marry the 2 airfares I get NZ$6039 vs NZ$15847. Outrageous.
This sounds like a fare combinability issue.
Are all these flights UA operated (not UA flight numbers but actually UA operated)
What are the fare classes in each case?
WineCountryUA is offline  
Old Dec 4, 2019, 3:19 pm
  #8  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,324
Oh, I see the issue. United does not publish a Premium Economy fare between AKL and LHR. Furthermore, I cannot plate AKL-SFO-LHR on a single ticket with UA PE fares, as there is no combinable unrestricted fare on the AKL-SFO sector.

Fares between two remote non-US points unfortunately receive little attention from US carriers. You're probably going to have to pick a different option (both Economy and Business fares are filed for AKL-LHR).


Actually, SFO-LHR has no end-on-end legal PE fares either. Part of this is also a botched rollout of full fare PE, presumably because they don't really expect people to buy it.

Further eta. I can ticket on LH stock onto the UA flights using the LH codeshares. LH has PE fares. Technically the LH fares can be plated on UA so... I get NZD 5,470 as all the cheaper LH fares require routing the other way.
onthesam likes this.

Last edited by findark; Dec 4, 2019 at 3:29 pm
findark is offline  
Old Dec 5, 2019, 4:23 pm
  #9  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: NZ
Programs: UA1k 2.5mm NZ Elite IHG
Posts: 12
Originally Posted by findark
Oh, I see the issue. United does not publish a Premium Economy fare between AKL and LHR. Furthermore, I cannot plate AKL-SFO-LHR on a single ticket with UA PE fares, as there is no combinable unrestricted fare on the AKL-SFO sector.

Fares between two remote non-US points unfortunately receive little attention from US carriers. You're probably going to have to pick a different option (both Economy and Business fares are filed for AKL-LHR).


Actually, SFO-LHR has no end-on-end legal PE fares either. Part of this is also a botched rollout of full fare PE, presumably because they don't really expect people to buy it.

Further eta. I can ticket on LH stock onto the UA flights using the LH codeshares. LH has PE fares. Technically the LH fares can be plated on UA so... I get NZD 5,470 as all the cheaper LH fares require routing the other way.
Thanks Findark for seeing the issue and suggesting a possible solution.. Actually the route is very popular and its volume is growing as NZ's roots are England. Its a wonder that UA's marketing Dept does not not try and build market share as both legs of the journey are so long that PP would have great appeal.Perceptive reply I am going to try playing with.
FU24 is offline  
Old Dec 5, 2019, 6:49 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: 14,324
Originally Posted by FU24
Thanks Findark for seeing the issue and suggesting a possible solution.. Actually the route is very popular and its volume is growing as NZ's roots are England. Its a wonder that UA's marketing Dept does not not try and build market share as both legs of the journey are so long that PP would have great appeal.Perceptive reply I am going to try playing with.
I'm sure if you actually had the ability to ring the desk of the people who write those fares, they would get on it. AKL-LHR is likely something United frequently forgets exists as a citypair they serve, since 99.9% of their traffic is going to have a US O&D.
jsloan and Xyzzy like this.
findark is offline  
Old Dec 5, 2019, 6:57 pm
  #11  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,178
Originally Posted by findark
I'm sure if you actually had the ability to ring the desk of the people who write those fares, they would get on it. AKL-LHR is likely something United frequently forgets exists as a citypair they serve, since 99.9% of their traffic is going to have a US O&D.
Agreed -- and, while I agree that NZ-UK is a viable market, I'm not sure why you'd connect through the US to fly it, considering that AKL-SIN-LHR is only 30 miles further than AKL-LAX-LHR, and AKL-TYO-LHR is actually 400 miles shorter than AKL-LAX-LHR. Making a wholly unnecessary trip through customs and US immigration seems like a pain best avoided if possible.
jsloan is online now  
Old Dec 5, 2019, 8:37 pm
  #12  
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: AVP & PEK
Programs: UA 1K 1.8MM
Posts: 6,275
Originally Posted by jsloan
Agreed -- and, while I agree that NZ-UK is a viable market, I'm not sure why you'd connect through the US to fly it, considering that AKL-SIN-LHR is only 30 miles further than AKL-LAX-LHR, and AKL-TYO-LHR is actually 400 miles shorter than AKL-LAX-LHR. Making a wholly unnecessary trip through customs and US immigration seems like a pain best avoided if possible.
It's more of a tradition for some Kiwis, and maybe even more so now that Air New Zealand announced their cancellation of LAX-LHR (Oct 2020).

The end of the LAX - LHR route
narvik is offline  
Old Dec 5, 2019, 11:44 pm
  #13  
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: UA-1K MM, AA-Gold, DL-Silver, AS-MVP
Posts: 2,498
Originally Posted by FU24
Thanks Findark for seeing the issue and suggesting a possible solution.. Actually the route is very popular and its volume is growing as NZ's roots are England. Its a wonder that UA's marketing Dept does not not try and build market share as both legs of the journey are so long that PP would have great appeal.Perceptive reply I am going to try playing with.
It's probably because UA can extract higher fares selling US-AKL and US-LHR separately than a AKL-US-LHR ticket. That marginal revenue is probably not worth UA to chase after and rather leave it for SQ, CX, CI, TG, etc.
writerguyfl likes this.
hirohito888 is offline  
Old Dec 6, 2019, 7:21 am
  #14  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,324
Originally Posted by hirohito888
It's probably because UA can extract higher fares selling US-AKL and US-LHR separately than a AKL-US-LHR ticket. That marginal revenue is probably not worth UA to chase after and rather leave it for SQ, CX, CI, TG, etc.
They publish Economy and Business fares though. It's very clearly an oversight - when they rolled out PE a human had to add the PE fares to every city pair. Clearly those humans forgot that UA sells fares between AKL and LHR. The same is also true for SYD-LHR.
jsloan likes this.
findark is offline  
Old Jan 19, 2020, 5:58 pm
  #15  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: NZ
Programs: UA1k 2.5mm NZ Elite IHG
Posts: 12
Originally Posted by findark
They publish Economy and Business fares though. It's very clearly an oversight - when they rolled out PE a human had to add the PE fares to every city pair. Clearly those humans forgot that UA sells fares between AKL and LHR. The same is also true for SYD-LHR.
What may not be appreciated by those who are not ANZACs is that Australia and NZ still have huge ties to UK and Europe and the amount of thru traffic via either US or Asia is considerable.
Why fly United ? BIS and upgrades [Plus Points}.If you cannot get a thru fare it makes it very difficult to upgrade.
FU24 is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.