Ouch - sudden price increase

Between now and November, prices will change more times than you'll even be able to notice (they can shift even multiple times a day due to computer algorithms, dynamic pricing, and shifts in a whole host of variables we don't even know about that go into the pricing models). It's like the stockmarket. Don't worry about a single change, it's insignificant in the larger scheme of things. Keep tracking the fares, and buy the ticket when you feel like it's at a price you like and can afford.

I purchased a ticket last Fall for a trip to Ireland this August. (Seattle to Dublin) The price of that flight in Premium Economy has gone from $1200 RT to over $4000 if I tried to purchase it today. You can wait and maybe get lower prices or you can wait and maybe get higher (a lot higher) prices. Buy it when the price seems to be reasonable and near the bottom part of the price range you expect.

No idea when in November you are traveling, but I just looked at Delta ( picked random dates) and you can get non-stop SEA-LHR for $688 r/t.
It is a flight operated by Virgin Atlantic ( I did not check the price on the Virgin site)

Shop around, UAL may not be the best deal

On his other thread, the OP mentioned that being on United was important to him.

To clarify the choice of airlines: In the past I have used mileage points from my United affinity credit card to get to Europe and back. Last year I went to Berlin and Volgograd Russia, and because I was flying off brand airlines including Condor, S7, AirBerlin, and Aeroflot I paid cash for the flights. I plan to pay cash for this trip so I am not locked into United. As I shop for an airline it seems the UA is one of the few that doesn't use the "economy lite" ploy to offer a low rate but without any check in luggage which can be had for an additional fee. As mentioned in the other posting, BA has a direct flight from Seattle (though with a limited numer of flights) at a reasonable cost. However, when you add the cost of check-in luggage it becomes less price competitive.

I'm pretty frugal, but I'd be willing to spend an extra hundred bucks or so for a non-stop flight vs. one with a connection. SO much easier, no worries about connections, etc. What are the chances of a weather delay with a US stop-over in November? Even a plane going from San Francisco has to GET there - instead of being stuck somewhere else due to a snow storm...

since you fly out of SEA you might want to consider subscribing to the YVR deals page by Chris Myden. From time to time there are INCREDIBLE fares to Europe, and other destinations - and for you paying in USD vs the posted CAD prices it's even cheaper. Example: I paid $725 for YVR to Santiago Chile last spring, and have seen around $500 flight to various European cities pop up (Dublin, Amsterdam, Madrid, Rome etc) He sometimes posts great deals from SEA as well, I seem to recall Seattle to London via Rejkavek fairly recently. Might be worth signing up for the alerts.

Picked two random dates in November.
Round trip in coach on BA with one checked bag included on a Non-Stop Flight is $698.
Round Trip in coach on Delta with one checked bag included on a Non-Stop Flight is $691

Do yourself a favor. Fly non-stop.

And I believe United is also offering "basic economy" fares -- so be sure you know what you're comparing!

I haven't yet had to pay to check a bag on a transatlantic flight, but you have to pay a fee on some airlines (including BA and Virgin Atlantic) if you want to select a seat more than 24 hours before departure.

Another 12 hours has passed since I posted my original message, and the prices have dropped back to the low $600s. Tomorrow, after World Cup, I will see what UA, BA, Delta, Virgin, Icelandicair, Air Canada, Air France.... have to offer and make a selection. I will be looking for either a non-stop or a flight from Vancouver or San Francisco in order to get a 10 hour flight.

Thanks for all the input.

As a United Million (plus many) Miler I can say that United is almost never your best bet for a good price for a good seat. There are other airlines that offer better services for better prices. This is especially true if you are heading to Asia. Shop around. UA has leaned hard towards accommodating corporate travelers at the expense of the general public.
If you book through United make sure to see if they are using a code share...if they are you may not be able to select your seating choices...that said, the code shares often treat UA customers better than UA does when they make the assignments.
If you are a traveler that cares about food and drink, UA's food has improved recently but many of the European airlines still offer better choices.

Are you using Google search for prices? I set up some searches on Google for different flight options and noted (still note) that my Google searches go up and down drastically each week. I suspect their alerts are geared to making people jump on purchases rather than accurately reflecting price searches.

I won't use Google searches in the future because of it.

Do we know how much Google gets compensated by the airlines when people click through to make a purchase? I really doubt that Googie is doing anything odd.

I would guess Google might make something from referring you to a third-party site like Priceline but not for direct referral to the airlines. Even so, I don't believe for a second that they are purposely manipulating airfare results to try to encourage anyone to buy a certain ticket. Show me the evidence. If that ever got out to people that it was true, why would people keep using Google Flights?

You can always check other sites like Kayak and Skyscanner - and the airlines directly - if you think Google is jacking up the fares. Compare fares. You can also not even click on one of their links and just take the same dates and go directly to the airline site (no way for Google to make any money on that, even if you think they would with clicking the link) and see what fare you get for the same flights.

I just ran a little test: Portland to Amsterdam on specific dates in September. The best flight that wasn't an awful double-red eye was on Icelandair. The fare was $1,022 on Google - which gave three choices: book directly with IcelandAir or Priceline (two Priceline choices - so they probably do get a commission on that). But the price was the same on all.

I then checked the price with Icelandair directly on their website, and it was the same $1,022.

Then I checked Kayak. I got several cheaper options for the same flights but with third-party sites. I found a fare of $764.56 through Justify which is some third-party site. That's a nice savings - but I've never heard of Justify and would worry about potential gotchas. I always prefer booking with the airlines directly.

(Not going on this trip - just doing a test for fares.)

Almost always I fly over departing from SFO or OAK (now) non-stop, (the one basic requirement) expecting the flight to be 10.5 to ca. 11 hours. If there is a layover of at least, hopefully, 3 hours I feel Seattle is the best.

I am willing to change in Seattle, even though flying from Seattle, say to London, cuts into my sleeping time on the flight. This was my experience last Oct on Br Air changing in Seattle...still it was a very pleasant flight with ample sleep time, only not as long as from SFO/OAK.