Eek! SFO-OGG on UA was $778, now $1413 pp?!?!?

[Denise L]

I've been checking fares on 12/16 from SFO-OGG on the non-stop flights...fares were $778 and tonight they are $1413 per person. What gives? Is there something awful happening in the airline industry that I should know about? Should I grab the fare at $778 if I see it again? Is pre-Christmas week getting filled up already?

 

[glenn1000]

It looks like the non-stop UA flights are now $790. There are lots of available seats. We have never paid that much to fly to Maui, but we never seem to get those super low fares either. I would probably hold out for a non-stop under $650. You can follow how full the planes are getting by using Orbitz.

 

[Denise L]

Been checking all day, prices still sky-high, I'm depressed!

The 12:15 nonstop departure and the 2:00 PM nonstop return are pricing out at $1413 each. This is insane. I will have to rent my week out if the fares don't go down...other nonstops times are $800+. Now I think I should have bought them at $778!

 

[Icarus]

One of the problems is the 12:15 outbound doesn't have any low fares available. The lowest available fare on the 12:15 nonstop is a B fare, which is almost full fare. The other non-stops have Q fares available. The 4PM non-stop has V fares available. Try the other outbound flights. It's surprising that the 12:15 outbound isn't offering any discounted fares on that day. The morning non-stop is usually the most popular outbound flight.

I don't know what your return date is, but if it's 12/23, I found a fare for under $800, returning on the redeye via LAX.

There are no S or T fares. Those are the cheap ones.

You have a Mileage Plus number, right? If you want to see the available fare classes on united.com, go to www.united.com, logout if you're already logged in, then login on the right side of the page, selecting "shop for flights" in the pull-down box. You have to use "muti-segment" itinerary and diplay availability by "schedule". You also have to set your preference to "an expert" under profile/all preferences. (scroll down to "Display Preferences"/"Availability Format").

I usually check fares via SFO-LAX-OGG and SFO-HNL-OGG if I can't find anything decent on the nonstops. I'm sure you know that already.

You might want to hold out for S or T fares. Of course there's a risk if you wait. On the other hand, I hate the red-eye.

-David

 

[EvelynK72]

You have a Mileage Plus number, right? If you want to see the available fare classes on united.com, go to www.united.com, logout if you're already logged in, then login on the right side of the page, selecting "shop for flights" in the pull-down box. You have to use "muti-segment" itinerary and diplay availability by "schedule". You also have to set your preference to "an expert" under profile/all preferences. (scroll down to "Display Preferences"/"Availability Format").

-David

Thanks David for posting this tip! You indicated that the S and T codes are the cheapest seats. Do you have a guide to the rest of the codes? I know someone posted this on the old TUG board, but I'm not sure if I saved it anywhere.

Thanks.
Evelyn

 

[Icarus]

I don't, but have a look at the first post in this thread on FlyerTalk:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113792

Scroll down to the pink text, and look at the large bold text below it.

UA coach fare classes we care about are Y/B/M/H/Q/V/W/S/T (from least restrictive/most expensive, to most restrictive/least expensive.)

Y/B/M/H are usually expensive. Y is full fare coach, fully refundable, no restrictions.

Q/V/W/S/T are the more restrictive discount fare codes and usually priced in the order I listed them in.

-David

 

[calgal]

Denise, Have you tried Suntrips?

 

[EvelynK72]

Thanks David for the link.

Evelyn

 

[nell]

Denise, I don't know how United is with their seats. But I went through the same thing with Continental. One day the fare was $1500 and a couple days later it would be back down to $760, a couple days and back up to $1500. This continued until the plane was about 3/4 full, then when it would go down it would only go to about $860. It didn't stay at $1500 until they had only about 20 seats left.

 

[Denise L]

Fares change all the time, have to get lucky!

Denise, I don't know how United is with their seats. But I went through the same thing with Continental. One day the fare was $1500 and a couple days later it would be back down to $760, a couple days and back up to $1500. This continued until the plane was about 3/4 full, then when it would go down it would only go to about $860. It didn't stay at $1500 until they had only about 20 seats left.

Hi Nell,

I know that UA changes its prices all the time, so I will just keep checking every day at random times and see what comes up. It makes $778 look cheap now!

 

[Denise L]

Denise, Have you tried Suntrips?

Hi, I have some UA vouchers worth $600 that I'd like to use for this trip. I haven't tried Suntrips, but I'd probably try Aloha or Hawaiian first. Looking for nonstop flights to Maui, or on Hawaiian we could fly out of San Jose which would be very convenient. Thanks!

 

[loosefeet]

I no longer understand United's fare structure. Recently I went to Kona--paid about $680/ticket--but, it was on the days I wanted, a direct flight, and I didn't want to worry about it (ususally I hold out to something under $550). Well, my rationalization DID NOT WORK. Just 2 weeks before the departure, the tickets were down to $503 for the same flights. I called and had them reticket--even though it cost $100, I still got a small voucher. Next time, I'm waiting for my price. Just keep checking--it will go down.