Finding a specific fare class
 

On occasion I have found that I have purchased Y class tickets but I have no idea how I did it. At the time I did not notice any significant price difference from the usual non-Y fares that I'm supposed to buy. When I look for flights I don't seem to have any choice for fare class but there are occasions where I would like to have a Y class ticket.
Any suggestions as to how I would be able to choose from different fare classes? It seems that I can change my profile to look for Y on United.com but I'm supposed to just buy the restricted fares so I would like to be able to see and perhaps buy a full fare economy (if I think I can get away with it.)
Thanks

You can use the "Service Class" and "Upgrade Eligibility" pull-downs to try to search for these fares. It doesn't always work, but it's your best online option to at least give you a chance.

Give up on united.com for this and use proper tools such as expertflyer.com and itasoftware.com to figure out what you want to buy. Then you can go back to united.com and see if you can cajole it into selling you the ticket you want. After amusing yourself with the ineptness of the united.com programmers, call UA and tell them what you want.

the sticky at the top of the united forum explains how to do it with itasoftware.

United.com is a mess which United has conceded in various meetings. It's being redone, but who knows when the new booking engine will launch.

by the way, if you really want to demonstrate how screwed up it is, try to check the cost of a business class ticket from the first screen, something United should want you to do. I believe you have to go to full fare search, to get a price for a business class fare