United Connection Fare Differences
 

Well folks, maybe one of you can explain this one to me... I have been pricing up some trips for January and February (domestic, simple itineraries) and I am noticing a 5-10% fare difference between the United Connection PC and web versions... namely that the web is 5-10% lower than the PC version. Is there another internet fare sale going on? I haven't heard anything about it... anyone else?

Southwest started an internet fare sale that runs through November 9 for travel in January and February. United probably matched in competitive markets.

Here is the thread with additional details: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum44/HTML/000037.html

I've just finished booking a trip EWR>GVA and found some interesting differences between UC software, UC on the web and the printed schedule.

I normally do this trip EWR>IAD>FRA>GVA>FRA>IAD>EWR. I could go EWR>FRA on LH(UA) and actually did that a few times, but I like the seats and the personnel much better on UA. Of course I also get an extra 1000 flight miles on our third world United Expres as a bonus.

Anyway, the printed schedule lists my prefered itinerary as one of the options. However, neither UC software or UC web brings that up on the screen. I then tried booking it as a multiple stop flight on UC web. That works, but then it tells me that there are cheaper alternatives. All thos alternatives involve using UA/LH code share flights. I also did not want those because they are non-upgradeable fares.

On the software I also had to go through a leg by leg booking to get the flights that I wanted. The final result on the software was $50 less than on the web. When I clicked reserve, the fare turned out to be $130 less!

I'll stick with the software!

Are you sure that the tax is not being added in? (sometimes the pricing program will or will not add tax to the quote it gives you)

On several occasions when using the software I would be given the fare; then when I reserved and purchased the ticket I was charged a fare $30-$50 MORE than the price first shown on the screen...I never pursued it until one occasion when the amount processed was $1122.75 MORE than the quoted fare...I spent half a day with United's 1K desk, Customer Relations and the United Connection people. (Even though I was being charged a full, unrestricted fare the computer coded it as non-refundable, so I couldn't even cancel it)! Ultimately, it was the Tech Support folks at United Connection that fixed the glitch...the transaction was cancelled and my credit card was NOT charged...but by the time I tried to book the fare I was originally offered I was told by the 1K desk that the fare had expired at midnight....and I missed the deadline by 22 minutes...

Sort of makes me feel STUPID chasing those 1000 mile online bonus miles!

Craig

Finding fare differences between the PC version and the web version seems to be pretty common on international itineraries, especially those with open jaws.

I spent last evening planning a trip in May.
05/12 JFK LAX UA
05/15 LAX SYD UA
05/26 SYD SIN QF, BA, AN, or SQ
05/29 SIN HKG UA
05/31 HKG JFK UA

The web version reported some astronomical price above $3500. The fare shopper on the PC version reported $3000 when I turn off the preferred airline option OR (have it on with only UA as the preferred). I even called UA Intl Reservation 3 times and they all told me the lowest they can do is $3000.

However, when I went back to the PC versionand specified UA and either QF, BA, AN, or SQ as the preferred airline, the fare came out to $2057. It seems that the reservation center couldn't see the $2057 BLSXP fare.

$3500 vs $2057 for the same exact flights!!! UA Connection has potential to be good but I find it amusing that I have to do some weird tweaking to get the lowest fare.

Good thing about my trip is that all segments are booked in B. Upgradeable at only 25,000 round trip instead of 50,000.

I just had one of these yesterday. Was using the PC version for a LAX-JFK flight and the lowest fare was $645. So I checked the exact same flight on the web and it came out to $389. Exact same dates and flights.

I called the PC Support desk and we spent 20 minutes trying to find out why. The answer: The $645 was correct because the $389 fare was only good for certain hours of the day, and the flights we were checking did not qualify. So, I ask, then why is the Web version giving that lower fare if it does not qualify under the fare rules?

Answer: I don't know, but it seems the Web Version is more "forgiving" than the PC version and the PC version is recognizing the restriction and fareing accordingly!

Well, I thanked her but told her I hope she didn't mind that if I went ahead and booked it Web and said goodbye.

But I really wanted to ticket it at my local CTO, so I picked up the phone and called the 1K Desk and told them my whole story. They also showed the $645 fare, but told me they would check it out and call me back. I got a call a short while later. They had confirmed the $389 price via the web and matched it for me. Yea! But what a hassle! Wish they would get the bugs ironed out of all this stuff (though I did get a lower fare because of the "bug").


[This message has been edited by PremEx (edited 03-01-2000).]

On a similar note I just went to ual.com to purchase an itinerary I knew was priced at $278. For some reason, the web was showing it as $229, and I immediately took out my credit card and purchased it. On the flight selection page it was not listed as an "internet special fare," each individual flight segment was priced at $139, and I later found the consistent $278 fares using United Connection, Travelocity, and ITN.net. ITN.net supposedly uses a similar reservations system, so I do not understand the fare discrepancy, but then again, I am not complaining!

This is certainly strange...

How did you guys get those fares?? I've been trying to book a trip in May from SNA or LAX to JFK or EWR and prices have continuously risen over the past month on BOTH the web and PC software. It went from around $360 to a whopping $609! I was hoping to meet Catman and trade cat pictures in the process... What am I doing wrong here?

Indurain, you may be doing nothing wrong. The fare I got was for March. May could simply have higher fares at the moment. Everything effects fares. Month, day of week, and even in my case time of day! (The $389 fare was only good on return flights from 5pm to 5am.) Not to mention Yield Management.

[This message has been edited by PremEx (edited 03-02-2000).]

I suspect mine has something to do with an inconsistancy with UA's web booking system as the lowest published fare for my route (PVD-STL) is currently $259, or $278 including all taxes and surcharges.

UA is having some ual.com only web specials right now, but the fare I booked does not fall into that time frame (complete travel prior to 6-15), nor were the segments marked by yellow stars stating "Internet Special Fare."

[This message has been edited by dw (edited 03-02-2000).]

Indurain,

I always check the fare rules on travelocity or expedia before i book a trip. I find it unusal, but right now, there are no fares under an H-fare for LAX-JFK even out in the end of March and May. Usually you would find a Q or even a W.

Something unusual is going on right now. AA, NW, US are posting a $426 fare. UA's lowest is $642. They all had $298 fares last week.