Companion fares - United - Question?

Hi,

I have a question about the pricing on companion fares on United.

My father recently died & I had to fly to the funeral and was not prepared
for the price of the flight (note: He died on a Tuesday & the funeral was on
a Friday). After searching around for plane tickets for myself & my partner,
I found the prices to be incredibly high (even including a bereavement
discount). My partner called a 'friend' of ours who works for United & he
said he could get us tickets at a severe discount using his companion
tickets/coupons.

He told us that it would be around $300 "or maybe even less" for 2 roundtrip
tickets from San Francisco to Chicago but he would not know the exact price
until United deducted it from his paycheck. This was considerably lower than
the lowest price I could find which was on Frontier.

I think you can figure out what is coming next! He called 2 days ago and
said the total was $500 (exactly) which is much more than what he had told
us it would be (more than 65% more than what he approximated). We asked him
if this could be a mistake & had him check with payroll and he came back and
said it was correct.

** My question **
Does anyone working for United know if this is an appropriate price ($500)
for 2 roundtrip tickets departing on a Thursday night & returning on a
Sunday night?

As to the Ms. Manners aspect of this situation, we will be paying him the
full amount whether we can afford it or not. And, no, his friendship is not
worth the $200 more that it will cost us. (He has a history of 'flake-y'
behavior.)

Thanks for any help with my question.

Signed,
Keith, the reluctant-bitter traveller

Also: When did you United stop serving free meals on flights? Their flight
schedule from their website said there would be a meal yet there was no
announcement or signage that the passengers would have to pay for this meal.
(It has been a long time since I've flown United.)

You haven't flown more than just United in a long time.

All domestic airlines stopped serving meals after 9/11. Some, including
American, Continental, and United, served snacks (i.e., "Bistro Bags") on
longer flights, but even this has now been curtailed. Instead, America
West, ATA, Delta, Northwest, United, and US Airways are now selling meals
for $8-$10 on SELECT flights. The food is better than before, but fee meals
are a thing of the past. The main reason is that by eliminating the meals,
they can eliminate one crew member, so the cost savings to the airlines is
obvious.

$250 for a last-minute fare between SFO and ORD is an unbelievable deal.
Your friend did you a real favor. That is a 4 hour flight in each
direction, or about 1,800 miles. Full fare on UA would be much more; even
the bereavement fare would probably be in the $700-$800 range. Thank your
friend and pay him.

Jeff (in Dallas)
"Keith Bisaillon" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I have a question about the pricing on companion fares on United.

My father recently died & I had to fly to the funeral and was not prepared
for the price of the flight (note: He died on a Tuesday & the funeral was
on
a Friday). After searching around for plane tickets for myself & my
partner,
I found the prices to be incredibly high (even including a bereavement
discount). My partner called a 'friend' of ours who works for United & he
said he could get us tickets at a severe discount using his companion
tickets/coupons.

He told us that it would be around $300 "or maybe even less" for 2
roundtrip
tickets from San Francisco to Chicago but he would not know the exact
price
until United deducted it from his paycheck. This was considerably lower
than
the lowest price I could find which was on Frontier.

I think you can figure out what is coming next! He called 2 days ago and
said the total was $500 (exactly) which is much more than what he had told
us it would be (more than 65% more than what he approximated). We asked
him
if this could be a mistake & had him check with payroll and he came back
and
said it was correct.

** My question **
Does anyone working for United know if this is an appropriate price ($500)
for 2 roundtrip tickets departing on a Thursday night & returning on a
Sunday night?

As to the Ms. Manners aspect of this situation, we will be paying him the
full amount whether we can afford it or not. And, no, his friendship is
not
worth the $200 more that it will cost us. (He has a history of 'flake-y'
behavior.)

Thanks for any help with my question.

Signed,
Keith, the reluctant-bitter traveller

Also: When did you United stop serving free meals on flights? Their flight
schedule from their website said there would be a meal yet there was no
announcement or signage that the passengers would have to pay for this
meal.
(It has been a long time since I've flown United.)

Well, actually, I could have flown Frontier for the same price.
(and not have been at the bottom of the United standby list)

Does anyone know what the typical *companion fare* price (for employees)
would be?
(not the typical full fare price)

It is more the point that he quoted an estimated price that was very far off
from the actual price we had to pay & we made decisions based on that
estimated price.


"Jeff Hacker" wrote in message
. ..
You haven't flown more than just United in a long time.

All domestic airlines stopped serving meals after 9/11. Some, including
American, Continental, and United, served snacks (i.e., "Bistro Bags") on
longer flights, but even this has now been curtailed. Instead, America
West, ATA, Delta, Northwest, United, and US Airways are now selling meals
for $8-$10 on SELECT flights. The food is better than before, but fee
meals
are a thing of the past. The main reason is that by eliminating the
meals,
they can eliminate one crew member, so the cost savings to the airlines is
obvious.

$250 for a last-minute fare between SFO and ORD is an unbelievable deal.
Your friend did you a real favor. That is a 4 hour flight in each
direction, or about 1,800 miles. Full fare on UA would be much more; even
the bereavement fare would probably be in the $700-$800 range. Thank your
friend and pay him.

Jeff (in Dallas)
"Keith Bisaillon" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I have a question about the pricing on companion fares on United.

My father recently died & I had to fly to the funeral and was not
prepared
for the price of the flight (note: He died on a Tuesday & the funeral
was
on
a Friday). After searching around for plane tickets for myself & my
partner,
I found the prices to be incredibly high (even including a bereavement
discount). My partner called a 'friend' of ours who works for United &
he
said he could get us tickets at a severe discount using his companion
tickets/coupons.

He told us that it would be around $300 "or maybe even less" for 2
roundtrip
tickets from San Francisco to Chicago but he would not know the exact
price
until United deducted it from his paycheck. This was considerably lower
than
the lowest price I could find which was on Frontier.

I think you can figure out what is coming next! He called 2 days ago and
said the total was $500 (exactly) which is much more than what he had
told
us it would be (more than 65% more than what he approximated). We asked
him
if this could be a mistake & had him check with payroll and he came back
and
said it was correct.

** My question **
Does anyone working for United know if this is an appropriate price
($500)
for 2 roundtrip tickets departing on a Thursday night & returning on a
Sunday night?

As to the Ms. Manners aspect of this situation, we will be paying him
the
full amount whether we can afford it or not. And, no, his friendship is
not
worth the $200 more that it will cost us. (He has a history of 'flake-y'
behavior.)

Thanks for any help with my question.

Signed,
Keith, the reluctant-bitter traveller

Also: When did you United stop serving free meals on flights? Their
flight
schedule from their website said there would be a meal yet there was no
announcement or signage that the passengers would have to pay for this
meal.
(It has been a long time since I've flown United.)

Keith Bisaillon wrote:

Well, actually, I could have flown Frontier for the same price.
(and not have been at the bottom of the United standby list)

Does anyone know what the typical *companion fare* price (for employees)
would be?
(not the typical full fare price)

It is more the point that he quoted an estimated price that was very far off
from the actual price we had to pay & we made decisions based on that
estimated price.

Maybe it was the difference of him taking a companion or the "companion"
not being accompanied by him.

In article , Keith Bisaillon says...


Well, actually, I could have flown Frontier for the same price.
(and not have been at the bottom of the United standby list)

Does anyone know what the typical *companion fare* price (for employees)
would be?
(not the typical full fare price)

It is more the point that he quoted an estimated price that was very far off
from the actual price we had to pay & we made decisions based on that
estimated price.

What decision?? Whether or not to to to your own father's funeral??!? Or that
you could have find some marginally more optimal way of getting there?? Doncha
have other concerns on your mind?

Look, your friend is tossing a favor your way. I would absolutely not quibble
over the $200 difference from his original quoted price. Grievance fares are
typically about 1/2 full coach (I just buried my father in Texas last February;
I live in New York state), and to give you a good price in comparison he stepped
up to give you something he could have used to get another buddy to take a
golfing trip or something with him. So he didn't know you could have made some
other arrangement for a similar rate.

Accept it gratefully, go a coupla hundred in hock if you have to in order to pay
him, take in stride that not everything lines up to optimize your advantages and
minimize your outlay, and think remeberances about your father.

Jees.

Banty

Nobody has yet to tell me what the typical companion fare is? But I sure do
get answer to things I have never asked.


"Hilary" wrote in message
...
It is more the point that he quoted an estimated price that was very far
off
from the actual price we had to pay & we made decisions based on that
estimated price.

It was an *estimate* not a price guarantee. Your friend was doing you a
favour, not giving you a precise quotation.

Hilary

Keith Bisaillon wrote:

Nobody has yet to tell me what the typical companion fare is? But I sure do
get answer to things I have never asked.

You weren't going as a companion. Think about you are asking. You are
asking someone to assist you in condemning someone who went out of their
way to be helpful. Sure, another carrier had a lower fare...

Keith Bisaillon muttered....


Nobody has yet to tell me what the typical companion fare is? But I
sure do get answer to things I have never asked.



Typical "Companion Fare". There's no such critter. Occasionally, airlines
offer a "free" ticket to the "companion" of a purchaser of full or not very
discounted tickets. WN frequently runs "Friends Fly Free" promotions in
some markets.

You posed a "bull****" query and received (for this froup, at least)
sensible responses. Too lazy/cheap/simply unwilling to shop for yourself,
you reached out for a "something for nearly nothing" deal, and found later
it to be not as good as "advertised", just as "deals" so often are. Since
you've not mentioned when, where, or how much notice, no one here could
point to specific comparable ticket costs, but the price you had to pay was
certainly not unreasonable, not far from that which you could have found
had you gotten off your lazy butt and looked...

TMO

In article , Olivers says...

Keith Bisaillon muttered....


Nobody has yet to tell me what the typical companion fare is? But I
sure do get answer to things I have never asked.



Typical "Companion Fare". There's no such critter. Occasionally, airlines
offer a "free" ticket to the "companion" of a purchaser of full or not very
discounted tickets. WN frequently runs "Friends Fly Free" promotions in
some markets.

You posed a "bull****" query and received (for this froup, at least)
sensible responses. Too lazy/cheap/simply unwilling to shop for yourself,
you reached out for a "something for nearly nothing" deal, and found later
it to be not as good as "advertised", just as "deals" so often are. Since
you've not mentioned when, where, or how much notice, no one here could
point to specific comparable ticket costs, but the price you had to pay was
certainly not unreasonable, not far from that which you could have found
had you gotten off your lazy butt and looked...

TMO

Actually he did look and found a fare on Frontier. It's that he thought he
could do $200 better based on an estimate from a friend that was doing him a
favor, and is still miffed about it.

Banty