lincolnjkc

Was attempting to book/price a fully refundable open-jaw fare and UA.com is being...weird... (Including after selecting the outbound flight showing me 48 option for the return with "Not Available" in the first and economy for every single option a few times in a row)

Finally got (what I thought) was complete itinerary but noticed the 'non-refundable' language in the checkout flow... Pulling the fare rules (basis BAA0AFFN/PC01 outbound and LAA4JKFS return) I'm noticing something I've never seen before:

"VALID FOR ADULT. THIS FARE IS VALID FOR A SPECIFIED ACCOUNT CODE. CONTACT CARRIER FOR DETAILS."

(well... also I've never noticed the "any UA flight but not nonstop UA flights" but I can actually understand that one )

What does UA mean for "valid for a specified account code"?

My first guess is corporate accounts -- but I have none (unless you count the PerksPlus account I manage)

I'm also used to N in the last character of the fare basis indicating a non-refundable fare (and from the rest of the rules this doesn't read like a refundable fare -- e.g. there's no requirement for a "REFUNDABLE" endorsement) so a little interested that this is what it came up with when my search when I told UA.com to show me refundable fares .

findark

The /PC01 fare designator and the rule restriction would imply this is a private fare, intended only for sale to specific UA account codes (specific customers of United). The website has a lot of integration with corporate accounts these days; if your profile is linked to one in any fashion, it could be pulling a fare or a "personal" version of the fare (there's a thread on getting discounts for being an employee of a customer). Note that while usually a fare with -N in eighth position is non-refundable, but that the fare designator will usually include one or more template overrides. The base fare BAA0AFFN will be a non-refundable C fare, but the private could be refundable (or it could not). The key text you want is "CANCELLATIONS PERMITTED" in Cat16, which no additional fee.

lincolnjkc

Thanks... That's kind of what I was figuring but as far as I know my account shouldn't be linked to any UA corporate accounts with special fares (my {less than 10 employees} employer has a PerksPlus account that I manage but aside from 'paying' for my UC membership that's all that accomplishes) -- I've had a few clients over the years who may or may not have contracted UA fares book travel for me but a couple-times-a-year ad-hoc booking shouldn't rise to linking my account, right?

Any way to tell if/who my account might be linked to on the corporate side?

The non-/PC01 fare was also a non-refundable fare and much more typical of the non-refundable fares I'm used to seeing so I just abandoned ship and will try to fare and buy it again next time I have time to build the trip.

findark

In flight search, does your account have the option to specify "business travel"? I had this for months after I left my employer that had the website hook-in.

However, I have no trouble believing that there was a pricing bug and that fare was not properly excluded from the public. It definitely happens from time to time.

lincolnjkc

Nope -- Just the usual suspects (Cabin, Type of Fare, Show Flights From, Fare Class, Sort by, Upgrade Type, etc.)

Given how wonky UA.com is has been for me this week (every time I search for a flight or edit a search I flip between different UXes, "no flights found" on well-served routes) I guess I'll write it of as United tech being United tech -- bummer, thought maybe I found a secret club that was willing to have me

mozilla

PC01 ticket designator has been turning up in public searches on UA.COM for a while now, at least since end of December. Seems to be bookable by the general public through UA.COM.

Does not seem to be published in GDS, although the corresponding fare without PC01 designator does. Differences are very minimal, last I checked there was no difference in price either. I'm not sure what the point of these designators is, maybe they serve some statistical purpose?

findark

Yeah, I guess to be fair "united.com" probably counts as a "specified account code" so it could even be on purpose. IIRC the differential-priced lower-bucket refundable fares were blocked from agency distribution to prevent corporate cannibalism.

mozilla

Comparing a BAA0AFEN fare with a BAA0AFEN/PC01 fare, there are some differences here and there but what gets my attention most is that the /PC01 requires UA flights and does not allow nonstop flights "THE FARE COMPONENT MUST BE ON ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING ANY UA FLIGHT OPERATED BY UA BUT NOT ON NONSTOP FLIGHTS." The same fare without the PC01 designator has no restrictions in the flight application.

I also notice that the /PC01 fare comes in 0.16% cheaper in the base fare, which amounts to $1.40 in my example. Not sure if this is done to get the upper hand in some comparison engine, but it may not be a good deal to save $1.40 to lose the ability to book nonstop flights.

@lincolnjkc was the PC01 option also offered for an itinerary with stops in your case?

lincolnjkc

In the case of that flight the only options between city pairs involves a collection -- I can get from A to B via any of UA's Midwest/Eastern hubs but a stop is involved.

For the return I was vacillating between two airports, one of which has nonstop options available the other does not. I suspect that may be part of the reason the return was pulling a LAA4JKFS (which did not include the 'no nonstops' applicability limitation) interesting that you save a whole 0.16% with the /PC01 fare