United Airlines - 6 tickets left at this price (Hmmmm)

I wouldn't try to book a fare this early (for a timeframe that far in advance). United Airlines is in real financial trouble and it's not infeasible that it will be cutting some of those flights you're seeing now; no one knows how it will shake out. The "six tickets left...." verbiage is only related to airlines releasing tickets at a certain price in tranches. Once a tranche is sold at "X" price, then another one will go up for sale for "Y" price. But it doesn't mean that you'll never see any price lower than that later, because dynamic pricing reigns until all the seats are sold.

Thanks, Agnes, for clarifying the ticket offerings. And I'm with you on holding back before buying the tickets. I was surprised that the flights weren't priced less than they are - about $1,500 RT from SFO.

It seems as though I could capitalize on using my miles -- though -- as you alluded to, that may be a lost cause if United goes in the tank. (I rad they're furloughing/laying off 30,000+)

Short answer: No, the number is not related to the total tickets United has available on that flight.

Longer answer: All airline tickets are divided into fare classes on each flight (fare classes have nothing to do with 1st class, business coach or whatever other than certain fare classes will always be in specific cabins). So whatever fare class they are showing has 6 tickets remaining. Normally, the airline sells those tickets starting with the lowest priced ones first, but not all of the lowest fare class tickets are released. As mentioned in the previous post, this doesn't mean you won't see lower prices later, or even more at the same price. It just depends on how fast the plane fills up and how much the airline wants to fill it up if you will see lower prices later. If the flight is not selling as anticipated, more of the lower fare class buckets will open. If it is selling faster than anticipated, those 6 tickets will disappear and be replaced by higher priced ones even though no one has bought them. United used to show how many tickets were available in each fare class for each flight on the web site so you could have some idea about how soon you needed to purchase your tickets to get a low price. That went away after the merger with Continental. It is all controlled by the yield forecasting software each airline uses and makes absolutely no sense to most people who don't work for airlines (and I'm sure most of them have no clue either!).

And as to the financial health of United: They are no worse off right now than any other US based airline and most other international airlines as well. Airlines lay off thousands as the wind changes direction. After 9-11, during the 2008 financial meltdown, and other difficult times many airline employees found themselves without jobs. Many were brought back as the travel needs of the public increased. It will be the same now.

whatever fare class they are showing has 6 tickets remaining

The 6 number comes up a lot for online pricing. Note that all of these seat availabilities could make the statement true.

6 seats: "6 tickets left at this price"
12 seats "6 tickets left at this price" (plus 6 more)
18 seats "6 tickets left at this price" (plus 12 more)
50 seats "6 tickets left at this price" (plus 44 more)

The word “left” would seem to suggest that there are only 6 remaining seats at that price; that once those seats are gone, anything left will be at a different price, whether there are 6 remaining seats or 44.

If you’re shopping for fares, and Economy Plus seats offer a better price than regular Economy, buy them before the price goes up. It’s odd, but the prices are what they are, at the moment.

When you see the "only 6 left" message, that means if you book 7, one will be at a different (usually higher for the moment) price than the other 6. It does not mean that there are only 6 seats left available on the plane The entire plane might still be completely empty when you book. As I mentioned, fare class and cabin class are not the same and each cabin class, 1st business economy and so on, has multiple fare classes which allow the airlines to have multiple price points for tickets in each cabin class.

The message is to instill a sense of urgency in the customer to buy now, nothing more.

The word “left” would seem to suggest that there are only 6 remaining seats at that price; that once those seats are gone, anything left will be at a different price, whether there are 6 remaining seats or 44.

That’s what they want you to think.

If a pilot suddenly announced the there were 6 gallons of fuel left in the tank, I’d want the plane landed immediately. Maybe there would be 6 gallons, in addition to the 30,000 liters also in the tank, and maybe not !?!

I don't believe those statements obviously, I think it's a scan to get you to buy. Impossible to verify.

I don't believe those statements obviously, I think it's a scan to get
you to buy. Impossible to verify.

If you've ever bought a Southwest ticket, it's pretty straightforward. If it says 2 tickets left at, say $139, it really means right now there are 2 tickets at $139. When you buy one, the counter immediately goes down to 1 ticket left. Once that left ticket is bought (a few days later, perhaps), you don't see $139 show up anymore as the lowest price. Pretty easy to verify. The only thing you don't know is if and when in the future you may see another release of "X" number of tickets priced at or below $139.

Of course, it's a psychological trick to induce demand based on fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) and near obsession people have with scoring a deal. Even though you have no idea if $139 is the bottom, you're still tempted to assume that it is, and that other people are competing with you to grab that ticket.