Getting UA notifications for sales (Aust to the US)

[Jurahn]

OK, so a noob question here with regards to UA. I'm tentatively planning on heading back to the US in April 2024, to stay on a ranch in Cody, Wyoming - seems United are the only ones who fly to COD (at least as far as I've been able to find), and of course fares are way more expensive than the good old pre=COVID days. Is there any way of getting notifications of UA sales (if there is such a beast these days) for fares to the US without signing up to the Mileage Plus program, or is that the only option? I couldn't find anything on their website. I'd be crediting any points and SCs to VA, so would rather not have to sign up for a FF program I'm not actually going to use.

I was hoping to be able to fly to Seattle to spend time with some friends before heading to the ranch but booking an airfare into COD after a stopover just about anywhere is eye-wateringly expensive, but only a few hundred $$ if tacking it on to a direct there-and-back fare from here (usually via SFO or LAX), hence wanting to try to get a sale fare if at all possible. Apparently quite a few of their guests fly into Billings instead and then get a rental car, as it's not a long drive - not an option for me, as my stay will be almost two weeks and keeping the car for that length of time is ridiculously expensive (anywhere between $1K-$2K) as is a one-way same day drop off in Cody and then paying for the ranch shuttle, which would end up being around the $700-$800 mark in total, based on current pricing. TBH I'd rather not be driving at that time of the year anyway, given there may still be wintry conditions.

We've mainly flown US domestic with Southwest, and they're still very affordable - I wish they covered this route, but the nearest they get is Denver on one side and Bozeman on the other!

 

[SYD]

I’ve found it difficult to get “sale” fare notifications out of US airlines. Probably because there are just so many combos. AA and I think UA allowed you to set up some alerts for specific routes but that’s linked to an AA account. I don’t recall ever receiving an alert.

I actually was looking at COD as an option into Yellowstone but nothing much came up but on the weekend, I did book a QF reward from Bozeman (to Chicago)!

Alaskan has some flights out of SEA to a few places that way. We recently booked (paid) Alaska YVR-SEA-BOI. But Boise is getting even further away.

If you use Google Flights or ITA matrix, you can check a bunch of nearby airports across a range of dates. Maybe a short oneway car hire to COD?

 

[Jurahn]

Thanks for that - I guess I'll have to just keep checking the UA site for any sales that might come up.

Thanks also for the suggestions. I had looked at other airports, but again, the one-way car hire into COD is appallingly expensive from any of the sites I've checked regardless of which airport I try to book from, and most won't return any results at all a one-way hire to COD even when checking random dates right through towards the end of the year. Having to then do that both ways (to return to whatever airport I flew into, or any other airport in the region) , plus pay for the ranch shuttle from/to Cody, will end up costing more than the UA flights directly in/out of COD - and that's not taking into account the airfares to get to the other airport. Delta supposedly fly into Cody but apparently it's seasonal and doesn't start until May/June, although I couldn't get any results on a search for that period either.

I've got plenty of time to plan it all, so will keep looking, but not getting anywhere at the moment!

 

[SYD]

I've got plenty of time to plan it all, so will keep looking, but not getting anywhere at the moment!

Ah, penny drop moment. US airlines tend to release dates for sale 330 days out. So too early for April 2024 but you ought to get a feel for flight options and pricing using a similar period this year. Maybe also check May/June and Sep/Oct this year.

“Funny“ story, we were going to go to Yellowstone in late April this year (had already booked SYD-SFO//LAX-SYD). The plan was to road trip from SFO to SEA via YS. Turns out the West Gate doesn’t open until early May…

Subsequently heading back to the US/CA in Aug/Sep so now replanning Yellowstone…

 

[Jurahn]

Yes, that’s what I’m doing at the moment, trying various dates in April and into early May this year to get an idea of connecting flights, prices etc, have also looked at October/November. Seems the week leading up to and just after Easter is definitely a time to avoid, flights are through the roof for that period due to higher demand no doubt, and fares drop off significantly after that. Also getting an idea for what days of the week are cheaper to fly.

When I mentioned going to the ranch, and that it’s located so close to Yellowstone, my other half was talking about joining me and we could go and visit Yellowstone, as we’re keen to visit more of the National Parks in the US. Had to explain, much to his disappointment, that it wouldn’t be open in that area by then.

 

[danielc]

Have you considered using Google Flights (google.com/flights) to help with this ?

Do a search of the approximate dates you are looking for.
After selecting your (proposed) departure and arrival flights, it will display your Selected Flights.
At the right top of the page, there should be a 'Track Prices' slider for you to turn on.
Whenever the prices change, you should receive an email notifying you of the new price.
You can stop these emails at any time by turning the slider off.
At the bottom of the page it will have options to allow you to book the flights. One of which will usually be by linking you directly to the airlines website with desired flights already selected so that you can quickly complete the booking process.

I recently used this method for United flights when I was planning my upcoming trip to the US in March.

Related to this you may also try https://matrix.itasoftware.com/search. My understanding is that this is the search engine used by Google. It offers more flexibility in trying to locate flights across different date ranges. It however does not offer any way of booking the flights so once you have your desired flights you will need to book them either through Google Flights or directly with the airline website. It merely helps you to locate these fares. I used this tool to find reasonably priced flights to CDG for June-September last week. Booked them directly with Air Mauritius. It allows for One-Way, Return, or Multi-City searches.

Good Luck.

 

[Jurahn]

Have you considered using Google Flights (google.com/flights) to help with this ?

Do a search of the approximate dates you are looking for.
After selecting your (proposed) departure and arrival flights, it will display your Selected Flights.
At the right top of the page, there should be a 'Track Prices' slider for you to turn on.
Whenever the prices change, you should receive an email notifying you of the new price.
You can stop these emails at any time by turning the slider off.
At the bottom of the page it will have options to allow you to book the flights. One of which will usually be by linking you directly to the airlines website with desired flights already selected so that you can quickly complete the booking process.

I recently used this method for United flights when I was planning my upcoming trip to the US in March.

…

Thanks for the suggestions and the detailed explanation, that’s very helpful! I did see someone on another forum mention Google Flights, so have had a quick look at it and will definitely set up a search once the airfares for April 2024 are released. I did set up one for April this year, just as a test, but haven’t received any notifications, so assume either the fares haven’t changed or I didn’t do it correctly! I wasn’t aware there was a link from the page to be able to book the flight with the airline, so that’s great to know

I will check out the other search engine as well. Many thanks!