I’m working in NY this week, and I was looking forward to both of my flights. SFO-JFK round-trip in P.S. – upgrades cleared in advance. Nice. Everything was set to be a pleasant experience. On Friday, I found out that I actually had a meeting on Thursday, instead of my last meeting being on Wednesday. So I called United and changed the ticket.
- Price of the one-way ticket from JFK-SFO: $274.70
- After change fee, amount paid to United to change flight to next day: $570
- Total amount United received for the ticket: $844.50
That’s right. A one-way economy ticket from New York to San Francisco ended up costing me (or my company) $844.50. That’s retarded. Okay fine. I get the drill, though. That’s why it pays to book in advance. When I clicked the seat map to pick my seat, I already knew what was in store from me. Sure enough, I got the picture above. No seats available. There are still some seats free in business class and first class, and I have a pretty high fare code so there’s a reasonable chance that I’ll end up in business class, but it still bums me out that United is going to get close to $1000 for a one-way ticket from me, and I’m a 100,000 mile flyer, and unless an upgrade clears, I may be sitting in a middle seat all the way home (yes, even as a 1K, this happened to me many times).
I’ve always thought that airlines should block a few seats for the last minute purchasers who are going to drop this much money on a ticket. It sure would have been nice to see myself in a window seat after plopping down this much cash for a flight. Last minute tickets are a regular part of business travel, and United caters to the business traveler. Personally, I think blocking a couple seats up until 24 hours in advance or so would be a nice service. What do you think?
