Aussienarelle

My flights to SYD in January 2022 were about $500 - $700 higher than I had paid in 2019 but thought it was worth the extra price to see my parents and knew only Australian citizens could catch the flights so demand was low. I was able to use 40 PlusPoints each way to upgrade to Polaris.

While there I purchased a ticket to SYD for July 2022, similar price but automatic upgrade with PlusPoints, although 80 PlusPoints each way.

Prices are way up and those higher prices are in lower category fare buckets. I know UA had a sale around April 5 to SYD but those fares went quickly. Was looking at them for my son.

My trip this month to Spain was a trip I kept deferring as walking the Camino. Booked last November and wanted to change and airfares went up and up, then there was a dip in early January so booked that with miles and copay for the Polaris upgrade and waiting for the upgrade with PlusPoints for the return. Not as concerned as day flight so bulkhead seat in coach is perfectly acceptable. But the fares on the route have gone way up since I booked.

I also have a quick jaunt to the Bahamas and was so-so about the fare but snared a B fare for the flight back and waiting for the PN space 🤞

My flight out I got a Chase CC mileage of 30,000 for first. Since then the first mileage has gone back to 6 figures. Dynamic award pricing at its finest.

Prices are up on UA. As someone else said look at it as helping you make 1K sooner. I made Platinum much earlier than in past years, and if I had not used the miles for the outbound NAS trip would make 1K before the end of summer. As it currently stands it will be October unless I book my late August and September trips on UA.

jsloan

The last I heard, UA has been having a very difficult time finding crews; particularly pilots. I believe it's an industry-wide issue. They also have a subfleet of 777s that remain grounded.

At the prices they're getting, I'm sure UA is running as many flights as they can staff. I don't think they're intentionally restricting their schedules to try to goose their margins.

CIT85

That's exactly what I did for a trip to Wichita in August for a wedding. I bought the lowest fare with a 6:30 AM departure. After schedule change, I was able to change to 10:30 AM departure, which was what I really wanted and had been >$200 more at time of booking.

as219

Agreed that prices are through the roof, but I have to wonder if they've reached the tipping point. I booked my regular SAN-NYC trips a while ago at what I thought were crazy prices then. Now the same flights are1.5-2x what I paid...but the flights are pretty empty. Yes, I know seat maps aren't definitive, but I'm talking about empty. At some point I think people will cry uncle. I'm talking about mid-June $1,100 SAN-EWR in Y. With all 9s down the line and near-empty seat maps. F is x2-3. I mean, come on.

JetAway

Dropping the mask requirements loosened up a lot of wallets.

Aussienarelle

Putting your money where your mouth is 🤣

HNLbasedFlyer

Anyone who puts gas in a car knows that would catch up with the airlines at some point. This is hardly surprising.

Off the top of my head, Southwest, Delta, UA all lost money in Q1.

My April HNL-LAX-LAS round trip in April was $275. They certainly lost a lot of money on that trip - and I was upgraded. The same trip in June is nearly $1,000. Was I thrilled about it no - but I did pull the trigger.

The seatmaps were very wide open - if consumers don't bite at the higher prices - they will come down.

xliioper

Well, not 18 months ago and not on UA, but definitely on DL with their MQM bonus promo last year when fares were super cheap. With all the rollover MQMs, I'll end the year well north of 300K MQMs on DL. Could keep my Plat status for next 5 years without stepping foot on a airplane. Yes, I know there's no point in having status if you don't step foot on airplane. Don't worry, I'll actually do some flying . Fares will come back down a good bit in the Fall when demand slacks off just like they always do (check for yourself on Google Flights). Got a good deal for a MUC trip in late May a few weeks ago before the high summer fares really kick in.

WineCountryUA

Domestically UA is running a "full" schedule. Although this has involved in moving some resources to different domestic locations, And TATL is up over 2019. TPAC is still way down.
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...l#post34198136

nomad420

Just tried booking LIT - SEA end of June and the pricing was obscene (over $1K coach). Will see if AS is any better. To the comments above the people that I am traveling with said they can get to Singapore for not much more!!

emcampbe

yup - I just booked SFO-SIN for the summer at a little <$1100. Though not on a non-stop, this is the ‘old’ way to SG via NRT (and YVR - it’s AC for us this time, which I realize has its own issues, but this trip will get me probably 2x PQM compared to a UA metal routing, and will guarantee our premier renewal for next year).

interestingly enough - we are doing this to get to India - where fares were pricing ~$2K/person - doesn’t matter where in India (more than I’ve ever paid CVG-MAA/BLR at peak Xmas time). UA was even higher than anyone else, pretty much. Even with staying a day or two each way in SIN, hotels, separate flights to S. India. etc, it’s still going to save ~$500/person (x 4), and I’ll be honest, an excuse to get a couple of days in Singapore for me is a bonus. Looked at doing the stop part in BKK instead, but fares were priced ~$200 higher/person, at least when I booked, and honestly prefer Singapore to Thailand unless we are going to get some resort time in Thailand, which wasn’t going to happen this year. So I think we came out ok on this.

we unfortunately haven’t planned anything out the rest of the summer, but we’re looking at a quick weekend SFO-PHX which is pricing out at ~$350+ when I looked. Not $1K, for sure, but still a lot for a ~1300 mile round trip between two major cities.

bioyuki

Life must go on 🤷‍♂️. Embarrassed to say it, but I paid almost $700 for SFO-SNA, and $10K for SFO-NCE, not sure which one is more outrageous.

LarryJ

No problem finding pilots for mainline flights but training is at capacity and it's probably not enough. Last I heard there is the equivalent of about 150 RJs parked because our regional partners can't keep them staffed with pilots.

Mainline started higher pilots earlier than any other large US airline. I think classes started in May of 2021. They were running about 50 new-hires per week for many months then ramped up to 60 to 70 per week. They had to back down a bit as the training pipeline was starting to bottleneck while they trained more line-check airman.

The real problem is ground staff at mainline and most of the airport venders such as catering and fuel. Paying over $22/hr starting pay for rampers at DEN and they're still short.

If the demand is not as strong as expected this summer, the fares will drop. If the demand remains, it won't. I have no idea which it will be but I'm flying a lot of completely full airplanes around lately.

drewguy

Maybe you can do a hidden-city ticket LIT-SIN via SEA?

nomad420

I know the "old" way well through NRT. It is not bad at all you can stretch your legs on the connection and as you noted the pricing isn't bad at all.
Check it out on the UA booking site LIT - SEA, I saw prices as high as $1500 RT for Coach just crazy!! I often don't fly in or out of LIT but my partner does at work and she if actually freaked by this as she has/had several trips to take this summer out of LIT to SEA, SFO, LAX etc....