New York City – United Airlines To Require Minimum Stays

    11

    New York City – United Airlines said Friday it will start requiring minimum stays for nearly all domestic coach seats beginning in October. It is also raising its cheapest fares by as much as $90 one-way.

    Join our WhatsApp group

    Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email


    The second-largest U.S. carrier said the moves are among a number of changes, including flight and job cutbacks, it is making to combat record high fuel prices.

    The new rules are bound to be unpopular with business travelers who prefer to catch a flight out early in the morning so they can be back home in time for dinner.

    How long passengers have to stay under United’s new minimum-stay policy will depend on the destinations involved, the price of the ticket and the length of the flight.

    For example, travelers booking the cheapest seats between Chicago and Minneapolis or Boston and San Diego will now be forced to stay three nights or the entire weekend, Urbanski said.

    United also has raised its lowest fares by $1 to $90 one-way, meaning the least expensive available United ticket will now cost travelers $69 to $199 one-way, depending on the length of the flight.


    Listen to the VINnews podcast on:

    iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Podbean | Amazon

    Follow VINnews for Breaking News Updates


    Connect with VINnews

    Join our WhatsApp group


    11 Comments
    Most Voted
    Newest Oldest
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments
    Abba
    Abba
    15 years ago

    People travel every day on a plane?

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    Yes, Abba, every day we go to JFK or La Guardia, stand on line through security, sit in a cramped seat, eat a plastic meal, & then do it all again every single night to go home.

    Waddya think??? WE TRY NOT TO SPEND TOO MUCH TIME AWAY FROM OUR FAMILIES ON BUSINESS TRIPS SO WE TRY TO MAKE “LOCAL” BUSINESS TRIPS 1 DAY. The rest of the week we spend on a hot stinky subway going to & from Manhattan. What a way to earn a buck.

    If I have to spend Shabbosim away from my family, or 3 nights for a 2 day trip to get cheap flights it ain’t happening.

    Touma
    Touma
    15 years ago

    Minimum stay????? What’s that supposed to be? Their new motto should be “United: We love to lose business and it shows.”

    Mark Levin
    Mark Levin
    15 years ago

    They are seriously out of their stinkin minds! Why would a business want to kill themselves? I dunno lets ask the airline execs.

    I have a better idea, get rid of the min stay restrictions altogether and lets just have normal fares and perhaps we will be able to fly so they could make some money?! What a novel concept!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    what the benifit of min stay so that ill get 2 one way tickets

    Airline executive
    Airline executive
    15 years ago

    New rates for airlines starting next month are as follows:

    Sitting down on a plane 15.00

    First piece of luggage 15.00

    Bottled water 1.50

    headset 10.00

    bathroom key (swipe and wipe fee) 15.00

    wearing an extra piece of clothing, anything besdies your pants and shirt? Then add on another 15.00

    Take off fee 15.00

    landing fee 15.00

    circling fee 12.00

    gas tax 20.00

    city tax 35.00

    E ticket fee 3.00

    curbside check in 12.00

    Isle seat 15.00

    window seat 18.00

    getting out of your seat 3.00

    leg room 50.00

    In flight entertainment 20.00

    Kosher plane phones 6.00 a minute

    Actual ticket to get where you are going 1.99

    plus applicable fees.

    Good luck flying the unfriendly skies.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    From the looks of it ,it will go bankrupt very soon.jus like TWA.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    The background to this, is that the lowest-priced seats were supposed to be for people on vacations, which helped fill the flight at a discount price. These seats used to need those 3-day stays, and advance purchase, plus other conditions. The intent of the rules was to make sure that their regular business customers who were going to fly no matter what, still paid the higher prices.

    The discount seats were intended to people who would not have flown at all if they had to pay those prices, so they were not losing money to give them cheaper seats.

    The business traveler usually could not book that far in advance, and did not wish to stay over, hence he/she flew full coach or “business class” or even first class.

    The idea was that at least half to 2/3 of the seats were full priced, while only about 1/3 or less of the seating was occupied by the discount programs.

    During the high profit and highly-competitive years, when the airlines were eager to fill seats, they started to become more “generous” with those discount tickets, and not so picky with the old stay over rules. Hence many business travelers found themselves using fares aimed at vacationers….. and liking it.

    This all became even easier with companies having their own travel experts who searched and found these cheapo seats for their employees.

    Online reservation also made this easier.

    What with all the extra flights airlines added to off the “best service”, etc., they needed to fill seats and allowed as much as 2/3 to be discounted.

    Now with the crazy prices on Jet Fuel, the airlines are facing the realities that they need to go back to the original pricing structures, reduce number of flights, and are forced to go back to the original intent of those discounted tix: vacationers, and only 1/3 or fewer seats.

    This is not evil, it is just trying to be profitable again.

    koro hatarnegol
    koro hatarnegol
    15 years ago

    This is nothing new. For as long as I rememberthey had minimum stay requirements. They relaxed the rules on some markets. All the airlines are losing money they keep on trying new rules.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    Anon 9:49. Appreciate your explanation, but why did they have the minimum stay requirements to begin with? The fees should be structured based on how early you make the reservations. Vacationers will generally make resevations considerably earlier then business travelers. What does the airline gain by requiring them to stay for several days?

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    When the fuel prices will go down bez”h they will still keep the same high ticket prices.They will find other reasons why to keep the ticket prices up.