Mar 1, 2020, 10:34 am
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
POS ==> Point of Sale. For UA, this determines pricing, inventory, fare rules, (in some cases - change fees) ....
Related threads
Different pricing/fare buckets depending on billing country / point of sale
Price delta between united.com/ United app / second phone? (Guam is billing country?)
united handles point of sale by credit card billing address. So will change the price to the local point of sale, based on billing address. If your CC is Canadian with Canadian address, and you start searching from US site, you’ll get the pricing swotcheroo. Sometimes, it’s not much of a difference. Sometimes it is. There can be different class availability, and exchange rate isn’t necessarily up to date.
Online OTAs should let you bill to whatever card you want, so that’s one solution.
Online OTAs should let you bill to whatever card you want, so that’s one solution.
Different pricing/fare buckets depending on billing country / point of sale
Price delta between united.com/ United app / second phone? (Guam is billing country?)
UA forces POS to credit card billing country -- restricts which site/card can be used
Dec 13, 2021, 1:02 am
#61
Join Date: Jun 2021
Programs: BA Executive Club, United MileagePlus
Posts: 18
Booked a “resident fare" or a normal Point of Sale fare difference, issue?
Hi All
I found a great one-way fare on Google Flights from a third country returning to the US and booked it on United.com.
I think that price is only intended for residents of the third country, because it wasn't available in the app. Is there a chance I'll be denied boarding?
Many thanks,
I found a great one-way fare on Google Flights from a third country returning to the US and booked it on United.com.
I think that price is only intended for residents of the third country, because it wasn't available in the app. Is there a chance I'll be denied boarding?
Many thanks,
Dec 13, 2021, 3:46 am
#62
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If that was the case your ticket will be flagged in the system once you enter your passport information. Can you pull up the fare rules on united.com? The relevant rule will most likely be included in one of the first paragraphs.
Dec 13, 2021, 6:59 am
#64
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No.
There is no relevant rule. The only enforcement of point of sale restrictions comes at the point of sale. If you can buy it, you can fly it.
There is no relevant rule. The only enforcement of point of sale restrictions comes at the point of sale. If you can buy it, you can fly it.
Dec 13, 2021, 7:19 am
#65
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: DTW
Posts: 322
Last I checked pre-pandemic, resident fares were still somewhat common in Latin America and regional Australia.
Dec 13, 2021, 9:47 am
#66
Join Date: Jun 2021
Programs: BA Executive Club, United MileagePlus
Posts: 18
Thanks for all your advice - much appreciated.
Each time I landed on United.com, the cheap fare was shown, then either didn't go through or jumped up when I tried to book it, depending on the device.
I tried leaving the third country in the credit card billing address and entered my US details for everything else, including the rest of address. To my surprise, it went through.
I wasn't expecting that, so have ended up here - where I have the cheap booking but am worried I'll get denied boarding on the day!
Each time I landed on United.com, the cheap fare was shown, then either didn't go through or jumped up when I tried to book it, depending on the device.
I tried leaving the third country in the credit card billing address and entered my US details for everything else, including the rest of address. To my surprise, it went through.
I wasn't expecting that, so have ended up here - where I have the cheap booking but am worried I'll get denied boarding on the day!
Dec 13, 2021, 9:51 am
#67
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Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,451
Thanks for all your advice - much appreciated.
Each time I landed on United.com, the cheap fare was shown, then either didn't go through or jumped up when I tried to book it, depending on the device.
I tried leaving the third country in the credit card billing address and entered my US details for everything else, including the rest of address. To my surprise, it went through.
I wasn't expecting that, so have ended up here - where I have the cheap booking but am worried I'll get denied boarding on the day!
Each time I landed on United.com, the cheap fare was shown, then either didn't go through or jumped up when I tried to book it, depending on the device.
I tried leaving the third country in the credit card billing address and entered my US details for everything else, including the rest of address. To my surprise, it went through.
I wasn't expecting that, so have ended up here - where I have the cheap booking but am worried I'll get denied boarding on the day!
The only reason you might be denied boarding would be if you did not meet immigration / transit requirements.
Dec 13, 2021, 10:08 am
#68
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There are significantly cheaper resident fares in Argentina and Brazil, plus probably some additional countries such as elsewhere in Latin America. They have been discussed on FT in the destination fora for these countries, including details of the documentation needed and what happens if someone who is ineligible has such a ticket. OP should read the relevant thread(s) very carefully. (My impression is that the rules are set by the country's airline regulatory agency, not individual airlines, so it might not be UA's choice to determine whether someone ineligible for these tickets will be allowed to board.)
Dec 13, 2021, 11:52 am
#69
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I have flown at least dozen times on “resident fares “ in Colombia, Peru , Bolivia and Chile , never had a slightest problem.it is widely common that local sites are disclosing cheaper fares. Same story with car rentals, for instance Alamo.com is one price, Alamo.com.Mx is different. Avis.com is one price, Avis Latin America is different price, Avis Costa Rica is having a third price for the same car rental…
Dec 13, 2021, 12:32 pm
#70
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UA often has different fares for LHR-SFO return on the US site and the UK site. I simply book whichever is cheaper. However, you have to pay with a card with an address in the relevant site’s country. The OP has simply used the workaround that has often been discussed here.
Dec 13, 2021, 1:59 pm
#71
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Dec 13, 2021, 2:06 pm
#72
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While such fares may exist, I'm pretty confident any fares found on Google Flights will simply be public fares based on country of origin as they don't do any residency verification. I'd doubt that a US airline like United would have any such fares which actually require residency verification. Just because fares are asymmetric by country of origin does not mean there is an actual residency requirement. Purchasing fares with foreign origins is frequently used by US residents to save money due to the asymmetry in fare filings.
Last edited by xliioper; Dec 13, 2021 at 2:16 pm
Dec 13, 2021, 2:10 pm
#73
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: CHS
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Posts: 2,589
People use VPN to do this all the time....
I personally don't as I thin it is somewhat "Iffy" but if you were physically in that country - you could play dumb and I doubt anything would happen, especially for the rare occurrence vs someone who uses VPN to do it often.
As far as paying, I use a corp amex - so I could use the address of whatever office is in or near the place where the fare originates....so getting around this part is pretty easy for me personally
I personally don't as I thin it is somewhat "Iffy" but if you were physically in that country - you could play dumb and I doubt anything would happen, especially for the rare occurrence vs someone who uses VPN to do it often.
As far as paying, I use a corp amex - so I could use the address of whatever office is in or near the place where the fare originates....so getting around this part is pretty easy for me personally
Last edited by Hipplewm; Dec 13, 2021 at 2:16 pm
Dec 13, 2021, 3:29 pm
#74
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 3,369
UA often has different fares for LHR-SFO return on the US site and the UK site. I simply book whichever is cheaper. However, you have to pay with a card with an address in the relevant site’s country. The OP has simply used the workaround that has often been discussed here.
Different pricing/fare buckets depending on billing country / point of sale
There are resident-only fares which go further than POS, as described by this thread. How often are those restrictions enforced? Ymmv
Dec 13, 2021, 4:21 pm
#75
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It's actually not fraud - it's a workaround, but the address used my not work with a credit card issuer who flags the transaction as fraud due to a mismatch against the credit card billing address, but that is a completely different issue.
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Dec 17, 2021 at 10:33 pm Reason: merger consecutive posts by same member