United Air fares

[Alpinista]

Any insight as to why United's (business class) prices to Italy are so high right now for 2024 travel? For Dulles to Rome, about 50% higher than what we paid last year. Just looked at ITA non-stop IAD to FCO for same time period and it is $4,000 less expensive than United.

 

[Kportgrl]

Is ITA business really like North American business class? In Europe it really is more like premium economy, at least on domestic European flights. just wanted to make sure you were comparing apples to apples.

 

[Alpinista]

Is ITA business really like North American business class? In Europe it really is more like premium economy, at least on domestic European flights. just wanted to make sure you were comparing apples to apples.

Good point. The site I looked at originally said "lie flat seating" in an Airbus 330. The images I see for ITA 330 have pods similar to United Polaris. In going back a second time, I see "fully reclinable" in the seating description. Will need to do additional research.

 

[Alpinista]

United fares just dropped back to normal levels today for our May/July trip. Will never understand airline pricing.

 

[Mom83]

This just happened to us last month. I was following flights to Rwanda on Qatar Air for a trip next October and the fares that were appearing as the new dates opened up were so much higher than just a week earlier in the same month. I waited 3-4 days and the prices finally came back down for our dates. It seems as if the fares are crazy high when the dates first open, but then stabilize after a few days.

 

[braindoc]

Is ITA business really like North American business class? In Europe it really is more like premium economy, at least on domestic European flights. just wanted to make sure you were comparing apples to apples.

Here is a review of ITA business: https://onemileatatime.com/insights/ita-airways-a330-business-class/

 

[Alpinista]

Here is a review of ITA business: https://onemileatatime.com/insights/ita-airways-a330-business-class/

Thanks! Great article. I'm seeing that ITA has plans to join Star Alliance which would keep my United miles benefits intact. Before the United prices came down for my May/July flights, I had noticed that the fares for September/October were still at normal levels, so booked those yesterday (using miles). Now that I'm seeing the United fares for May also back down, will book through United this time rather than ITA, but think it would be worth the experiment to fly with them if they do join Star Alliance.

Also noticed that using a connection through Frankfurt to get to Rome is cheaper than a direct flight. See above, "Don't understand".

 

[braindoc]

Not so much that ITA is planning anything, but that Lufthansa has reached an agreement with the Italian government to purchase a 41% controlling minority interest in ITA. They’ve applied to the EU for antitrust approval. If the deal goes through, Lufthansa certainly won’t have an affiliate belonging to rival SkyTeam. I wonder if Lufthansa will do anything with ITA and Air Dolomiti.

 

[Andrew]

Also noticed that using a connection through Frankfurt to get to Rome is cheaper than a direct flight. See above, "Don't understand"

Basically market pricing: a non-stop flight is more desirable, so they can ask for a higher fare, even if the connection uses more fuel. Often some of the cheaper U.S.-Italy fares are via Istanbul.

 

[Jim Zurer]

United fares just dropped back to normal levels today for our May/July trip. Will never understand airline pricing.

I found the same thing for our late April flights from Newark to Milan on United....economy fares just dropped to "affordable" levels. But Dulles-Rome remain significantly higher....

 

[vicogirl51]

I just purchased our flights this time flying United via my consolidator MCO to Dulles to Rome and business class was only 120 per person more than last year’s flights on AA. for June to end Oct./Nov .
5 months spent in Tuscany at our home with some side trips.
It's hard to find good flights out of Florida with only one connection at reasonable rates!
Delta One was 14k / person which is insanity via Atlanta 3 days ago!!
Is ItA the old Alitalia? If so are there still carryon restrictions like Alitalia had? The USA carriers to Italy don’t have weight restrictions on carryon which I prefer!

 

[NoSpin]

Very simple, it is all supply and demand. The airlines instantly monitor interest in every flight. If many people are looking at a certain flight, prices will increase. As soon as interest wanes, prices drop.

Real life example. Last October we and two other couples were looking at business class flights from Boston to Vienna in December with a return from Prague in January. Once we all started looking, prices went from about $6000 to $13,000 for two people. Two couples got their flights for $6000 and I could only get $13,000 because I was a few hours behind them. I booked for the next day flight and got the $6000 rate.

The airlines track the interest and bookings like a hawk. If interest is high, fares go up, if the they have lots of empty seats, prices drop.

 

[wco81]

I'm seeing them generally higher than last year, which was suppose to be the peak of revenge tourism.

The other pattern is that a lot of business class flights on Star Alliance partners are less if the transatlantic flight is on a partner rather than a United flight.