I checked flights from IAD to RCO for the beginning of September and last week and they were over $1100.00. I checked again yesterday and they were $670.00. I purchased the tickets at the lower price.

Yesterday I checked prices for IAD to LHR in May and the prices were $490.00 and today they�re close to $800.00.

Did I miss a sale that was only a day long? Why such a variation from day to day?

There are as many reasons as there are fare differences. There could have been a sale, they could have been matching another airline, they could have sold a couple first class seats opening some more lower fares to be sold again, etc.

Fare prices change constantly, you have to keep checking or use one of the watching sites to let you know when something is less expensive.

Ok, just out of curiosity, I checked the price again today and it's back to $1344.00 each again. So I got the $670.00 price yesterday. Weird.

Make sure you didn't buy a 1 way vs a RT price. Your (2) price points are VERY close to exactly 1/2 (or double) the other. FOr a fre to cut in 1/2 1 day, then double the next to within 1-2% seems a bit fishy. It is possible the fare was filed at the rt level, when they wanted it to be at the 1 way, then fixed it as well...is the fare basis code the same?

Traveler Base fare Taxes & fees* Total
Traveler 1 USD 450.00 USD 222.14 USD 672.14
Traveler 2 USD 450.00 USD 222.14 USD 672.14
Traveler 3 USD 450.00 USD 222.14 USD 672.14
Total price: USD 2,016.42

Fri, Aug 31, 2007 - IAD to FCO
United 0966
Depart: IAD 06:16 PM
Arrive: FCO 08:50 AM
Next day
Sep 1 Non-stop
8h 34m
Boeing 777
4,505 miles traveled Fare basis code:
SLWAXZ55
Booking class: S
Economy
0 Award miles
Dinner, Snack
Flight: Confirmed


Flight details
--% On-time
4505 miles traveled
[Dinner, Snack]
Economy
0 Award miles
Availability
Mon, Sep 10, 2007 - FCO to IAD
United 0967
Depart: FCO 10:55 AM
Arrive: IAD 02:40 PM Non-stop
9h 45m
Boeing 777
4,505 miles traveled Fare basis code:
SLXAXZ55
Booking class: S
Economy
0 Award miles
Lunch, Snack
Flight: Confirmed

Does the 0 Award Miles mean I don't get any miles on this flight?

Looks like a .bomb bug to me.

I've got an FCO-IAD flight scheduled and it also shows 0 award miles. I'm sure it's a bug - maybe they never added the miles in when they added the route (it hasn't even started yet).

There was definately something up yesterday and there was a brief note of it made in the MR forum. I posted but I was surprised that very little was being made of it particularly with the triple miles in July.I could only get one way in July but at this price I'm not complaining.

I paid $487 RT SFO-LON. Going out in July and returning in August! When I went to book a second trip leaving in June returning in July, I made it through to the final booking page pressed purchase and then was unable to complete the transaction. Apparently they were pulling these fares as fast as they could.

In the mileage run forum someone suggested they had loaded the wrong seasonal fares. From SFO they were available mainly mid week.

So congrats to the OP!

Same thing happened to me yesterday (mentioned in another post). SFO-FRA in may, a direct flight too, for $513! Checked later and the price was $1026!

yep. Something was definitley up yesterday. I bought 2 tickets to Europe (SF0-FRA, SFO-LHR) this summer--both under $560. SFO-FRA wouldn't book through on united.com, so I booked through expedia.

Thanks, OP!

What do you mean "wouldn't book?" Were you not able to find the matching fare or did you encounter an error message?