Today is National Plan for Vacation Day, a brain child of the U.S. Travel Association to encourage people to start looking ahead to spring and summer trips well in advance. To celebrate, United Airlines is offering a fare sale, with flights starting at $39 one-way.
United Airlines $39 Fare Sale [2022]
United Airlines is offering one-way basic economy fares starting at $39 between the following cities:
- Nashville (BNA) – Chicago (ORD)
- Boston (BOS) – New York/Newark (EWR)
- Boston (BOS) – Washington, D.C. (WAS)
- Buffalo (BUF) – New York/Newark (EWR)
- Burbank (BUR) – San Francisco (SFO)
- Chicago (ORD) – Minneapolis (MSP)
- Chicago (ORD) – Cleveland (CLE)
- Chicago (ORD) – Pittsburgh (PIT)
- Chicago (ORD) – Columbus (CMH)
- Chicago (ORD) – Detroit (DTT)
- Chicago (ORD) – Saint Louis (STL)
- Cleveland (CLE) – New York/Newark (EWR)
- Cleveland (CLE) – Washington, D.C. (WAS)
- Columbus (CMH) – New York/Newark (EWR)
- Dallas (DFW) – Houston (HOU)
- Detroit (DTW) – New York/Newark (EWR)
- Houston (IAH) – New Orleans (MSY)
- Houston (IAH) – Oklahoma City (OKC)
- Houston (IAH) – Tulsa (TUL)
- Las Vegas (LAS) – San Francisco (SFO)
- Los Angeles (LAX) – San Francisco (SFO)
- New York/Newark (EWR) – Raleigh (RDU)
- New York/Newark (EWR) – Washington, D.C. (WAS)
- New York/Newark (EWR) – Pittsburgh (PIT)
- New York/Newark (EWR) – Richmond (RIC)
- Palm Springs (PSP) – San Francisco (SFO)
- San Diego (SAN) – San Francisco (SFO)
- Santa Barbara (SBA) – San Francisco (SFO)
- San Francisco (SFO) – Orange County (SNA)
Other flights range in price from $79-129. You can find the full list of products here.
Tickets must be purchased at least 14 days prior to departure, but no later than January 25, 2022. Roundtrip purchase is not required. Valid travel periods under this sale are between February 7 and May 18, 2022.
There are no blackout dates or minimum stay requirements, but generally, Fridays and Mondays are excluded from this sale.
These are basic economy fares, meaning outside United’s 24-hour courtesy cancellation period, you will not be able to modify or cancel these tickets, unless you are hit with a substantial schedule change. Among other drawbacks, basic economy fares prohibit larger carry-on items and advance seat assignments.
You can also book these flights for 3,900 points plus $5.60. While not quite as bad as one cent per point (since award tickets are not booked in basic economy class), this is still a poor use of your points. Please switch to a cash back credit card if these are the type of mileage redemptions you are making.
CONCLUSION
United Airlines is offering one way fares for as low as $39, including taxes and fees. If you’re thinking about late winter or spring travel plans, now may be a great time to lock in your travel. But be warned: basic economy tickets are use-it-or-or-lose it tickets: buy accordingly.
“ Please switch to a cash back credit card if these are the type of mileage redemptions you are making”
F’n great for telling it like it is. I doubt you have any readers who would do that but still love it.
Agree that .01 is poor value, but since the awards don’t book into BE, shouldn’t the comparison be to whatever UA is charging for main cabin? I would never book a BE seat, so 3,900 could represent a decent value depending on what the current/usual cost of these fares is. I’ve actually booked quite a few low mileage economy tickets in the past year, always comping them to the out of the pocket cost. Just looking at a few LAX-SFO fares, I’m seeing comp one way fares around $60 each way. At .015, not exceptional value, but also not at all unreasonable if you’re sitting on a bunch of UA miles and just want to save some cash.
@Matthew Klint — the city pair listed above for
Dallas (DFW) – Houston (HOU)
should instead be
Dallas (DFW) – Houston (IAH)
I don’t recall that UA flies into Hobby Airport (HOU)?