I had vowed not to make any posts bashing united.com, since I figured everything that could have been said already had been (e.g. here, here, and here). But tonight I got a new one.

I was trying to book a February trip ABQ-DEN-BUR, SBA-DEN-ABQ for a friend, and found an itin for $182.40 on Travelocity, Expedia, and Orbitz (United was the cheapest airline by at least $60). So I went to book on united.com, and it wouldn't give me a price of less than $275 - in S, and not T. Even though all the flights showed T8 or T9!! But for the itinerary I wanted, it would only spit out S.

Check out these screenshots: ABQ to BUR and SBA to ABQ

I'll be writing a letter to United, letting them know that despite my strong desire to support my favorite airline and avoid Travelocity's $5 fee, I couldn't get the fare I wanted on United's web site and had to go elsewhere.

There could be an easy explanation for this - just because you see T8/T9 doesn't mean there actually exists a T fare in the market...

Hmm. According to Travelocity there is a T fare in the two respective markets, a fare which has a 3 day advance purchase requirement, a 1 day minimum stay, and no blackout dates for the month of February... does that clarify or just further confuse the question?

Ah - the mysteries of airline pricing. Righ before I posted this message I repeated the above search. Travelocity still has $187 and Expedia has $190. UAL.com still lists $275. BUT - the cheapest on Orbitz is now $658! Go figure.

There is definitely a T fare in this market - I was able to buy it tonight for February (but not on united.com), and am flying SBA-ABQ-SBA in January on a T fare for $191.