I'm investigating fares on UA for a quick trip to Bangkok in August. I'm just amazed at the different prices I am getting for the return leg, based upon my USA port of entry.

Right off the bat, I will say that I much prefer clearing customs in CHICAGO and NOT a city on the west coast that would then require another flight to get me back to ORD.

I'm seeing fares of just over $1000 if I fly via SEA. I don't want to do that!! Flight 882, NRT non stop to ORD, is what I prefer. The other day, I found that prices that involve flying on 882 were $1900... compared to the SEA stop-over at just over $1000. WHAT GIVES? It's still the same starting/ending points... AAAARRRGGGHHHHH!!! Today that routing on 882 NRT-ORD is priced around $1450. Should I wait and hope that it too will be about $1000 in another week? I have no clue about how the airlines price their flights.

Suggestions? Thanks!

Carol

carol, if this trip is important to you, then i suggest you book the ticket, then watch the fares, and if they go down, ask ua for a refund travel voucher for the difference. i've done this several times with no problems. but... i wonder if ua has changed this policy recently. perhaps you should ask first if they still do the refunds without penalties. good luck. hi to brad.

Unfortunately, United did change the re-fare voucher policy in March (for tickets purchased on/after March 19). There's now a fee to do it: $150 for domestic, not sure about international, but it certainly won't be lower. Too bad...I never used to worry too much about the price dropping.

No suggestions from me, other than there's been a lot of fluctuation in the things I've been watching lately. I saw some really cheap fares from Chicago to Japan via Seattle earlier in the year (~$600 when ORD-NRT was well over $1,000), so maybe the loads aren't great on the NRT-SEA flights.

Ken
I'll give Brad your "hello"... \

He's headed back to BKK with yet another newbie from our little small town area. They go right after the 4th of July and will be on the ground for about 10-11 days. A really short trip compared to what Brad is used to. But he needs to make this trip, and his newbie friend cannot be gone for more than 2 weeks. I'm sure they will have a good time.

When do you go back?

Carol

msgo thanks for the info on the change. i guess it was coming.

carol, no tkts to anywhere except to lv. nov gtg looks tempting. fares from hnl is around $1100 for that period.

central il will never be the same after khun brad addicts them to thailand. lol.

You need seats that are in booking class 'T' or 'W' for the lower fares on the BKK-ORD route on United, and for some reason United has zeroed out all those seats in August via NRT.

Have you considered taking ANA? They are a United partner (so you get Star Alliance benefits such as lounge access), and you can fly non-stop chicago-tokyo then tokyo-bangkok. And the service is about 100x better than United. I just plugged in a random date in August on ANA's site (dep 8/10, return 8/24), and the price came in at $1268 + tax.

Thanks for that information, riz. I hesitate using ANA. I seem to recall reading somewhere are less room...? Since I'm about 6' tall, I appreciate economy plus on UA, which I automatically get because I'm premier exec with them. I also like the buy-up at the counter for a business class seat. I doubt I could do that on ANA.

Ken, are you not heading back out to BOS in OCT for the GTG?

In addition to the 31" pitch in ANA economy...if mileage accrual is important to you, there are some differences. Discounted economy fares on ANA earn 70% redeemable/elite qualifying miles to Mileage Plus, versus 100% EQM and 200% RDM (for Premier Executives) on United.

Thanks for that bit of information, ms-go. I had not thought about that... but yes, miles are important.