socialworker

Hi, I am hoping some Lounge regulars can see this and comment....I am pricing out Los Angeles to Boston and sadly, the Mint class we flew last year has doubled from $2000 for the 2 of us to $4000 for the 2 of us, so just cannot justify it.

BUT AA is also charging the same $4000 total for their (alleged) 1st class while UA is charging $2000 total for the same flights, departure times and equipment.

I think we will go w/JetBlue's even more legroom, but has anyone else confronted this kind of crazy pricing?

Dukey1

If you mean by "equipment" that the seating and the service are "exactly the same" i think you may be mistaken. You even say that JetBlue has "more legroom" so there's a difference right there.

Those prices are probably similar because the two companies think they can get that kind of money due to competition or lack thereof. If united really is offering the exact same thing for a lot less i think those prices would fall pretty fast.

socialworker

AA and United are both using 737-900 planes, Dukey. That is what I mean by "equipment". So 4000 or 2000 for same (alleged 1st cl) seats on same kind of plane. Jet Blue is totally different category....sorry for confusion.

nanabee

What about checking out the flights on SWA. For those prices I would "suffer" in coach for the trip and use the thousands you can save for your next trip to Europe.

tomfuller

Is Boston a "must" for a trip onward? I'm sure you could fly to BWI and take an Amtrak Acella to Boston and come out with money to spare.

amyb

socialworker, I fly Boston-LAX a few times a year always on JetBlue. A lot of the pricing is very seasonal and also dependent on how far out you book, in my experience. I've never been able to justify Mint for a flight that short (it'd have to be over 7-8 hours for me to want that), but love the Even More Space, which is $100 more each way on top of the coach price. If you've never flown in Even More Space, it's very comfortable and the early boarding, access to overheads and quick security line (if you don't have TSA Precheck) is well worth it.

Editing to add, I'd stop checking JetBlue on the same PC and brower over and over again. JetBlue more than any other airline I shop, really responds with an upward price the more I check the same routing!

Gardyloo

Without knowing dates and how long you're staying, it's impossible to be constructive. Airlines use dynamic pricing algorithms that are virtually impossible to predict unless you're a star graduate of Hogwarts, so one day/hour flights might be $X, and the next time you look they could be 2 x $X or less...

On LAX-BOS I'd also look at Alaska Airlines. They use former Virgin America A320s on that route, and the first class sections on those planes are among the most comfortable in the air (for domestic narrow-bodies.)

doug_stallings

Mint class between LAX and BOS can be as little as $599, but if you're going during a busy week (like the week of July 4), then it's going to be much more expensive (up to about $2900). I was recently pricing AA flights the week of June 25, and it was insane ... over $900 for a nonstop. The week of June 18 it's more like $565.

socialworker

Such great feedback from so many of you, thanks!

Thanks for the browser tip, amy! And Gardyloo, I never imagined that Alaske flew LAX to BOS. I see that I could have gotten 1st there for the same price I am paying for JetBlue, so I will check that on all future trips.

Our dates and destination are fixed, as this is our annual 2 weeks in our timeshare on the ocean on Cape Cod. My (main) horror was how Mint *doubled* in price from when we took it for the 1st time last year on the identical dates. Maybe it was some kind of introductory rate? We have to be really careful on flights about leg room b/c my husband developed a DVT and pulmonary embolisms after a trip to Europe in '15, so SW has been crossed off our dance card permanently, except for maybe going LAX to SFO or PHX. We have been traveling pretty much exclusively on 1st class, for any flight over an hour or two, ever since that emergency hospitalization.

I did end up booking an Even More Legroom on JetBlue and paid $1100 for the 2 of us, as opposed to the $4400 that it would have cost for Mint. And since we always travel w/carry-on only, we need the early boarding feature as well.