On Jan. 6, United said it was cutting unrestricted fares in 12,500 markets by about 40 percent.
Typically, business people pay unrestricted fares when forced to fly on short notice.
Community officials expect similar unrestricted one-way fares when smaller airlines challenge the giants.
After domestic airline pricing was deregulated on Jan. 1, 1985, the cost of unrestricted fares skyrocketed.
But you can do that only on an unrestricted fare.
The new emphasis was on long-haul flights with low, unrestricted fares.
The unrestricted fare will be $129 one way.
American proposed cutting unrestricted fares, but also eliminating almost all of the discounts.
Yield management has resulted in a big spread between discount fares and the unrestricted fares paid by a small group of people.
The current one-way unrestricted fare for the 90-minute, 500-mile flight is $439.