^ WTF?

I've flown to San Francisco for cheaper! Hell, I think you can fly to Europe for cheaper than that.

I would never have paid that price, not even close. Did you try consider a flight out of Milwaukee?

$1,100???? Even a first class ticket doesn't cost that much based on my 20 second search. You got screwed. I flew from Orlando to Moscow for less than that.

And in a sense United is right. They don't need the southernmost runway. Just finish the one that is 1/2 done now and continue to improve the current terminals. The city trying to build the western terminal for new low cost carriers is an idiotic idea. If the city wants a western terminal, they need to convince either United or American to move into it and make it a Star Alliance / Oneworld hub, akin to the McNamara terminal in Detroit. But good luck convincing either of them to pay for that.

You can fly roundtrip to Tokyo for about that much. Definitely a ripoff...

Nope, I book flights to Houston all the time and, unless you book about a month in advance, you are going to be paying around $1,000 from O'Hare or $1,500 from Milwaukee. The only way to beat those fares is to book Southwest which is usually about $600.

You are all probably booking flights that will stay for three days or more, when my bosses or I go it's only one or two nights...

I know it's shocking, but I've probably booked a dozen flights there for myself or others and checked prices myself and through a travel agency, but they charge out the ass if you are just going for one or two nights. I'm half tempted to try booking two one way flights on different airlines...

I fly to Houston every month on United and have never paid more than $390 with a 21 day advanced booking. . .

. . .

I just checked for a flight leaving next week. . . the r/t rate is $641. . .

. . .

That is for a Friday/Saturday turn, I imagine. All overnight weekday turns I see for next week are right around $1,000 and three weeks out the lowest I see is $849. There must be huge demand for business travel between the two hubs. You have to love fortress hubs and this is why I am skeptical of those on this forum who demand the city make it easier for United or American to dominate the market. Yes fortress hubs are the most profitable operations for airlines but the consumer ends up paying which can lead to unintended consequences.

14 day advanced weekday flights on United between ORD/IAH are still less than $400. . . I don't think it's at all absurd to think that airlines would want to charge a premium on tickets as the market demands. . . every flight I'm on between both cities (usually fly Thursday at around 5pm returning on a Monday morning flight leaving at 9am) are 100% booked. . . seems to me that if you can't make arrangements that far in advance and are not willing to pay a premium for booking so late in the process, a discount carrier like Southwest would be a logical choice. . .

. . .

^^^ Again, you are using longer stays or something. I do this ALL the time and have booked them myself and through our company's travel agent and you can't get a 1 or 2 night stay for less than $850-900 unless you plan it 1 month or longer out. In any case it's absurd because I can book a round-trip ticket to Denver for $180 that far in advance and it's almost the same distance.

^^^Again, I just posted the facts. . . whether you chose to actually read what I wrote and interpret them in English is not my problem. . .

It sounds to me like you're getting hosed by your company's travel agent. . . this isn't rocket science. . . a simple visit to www.ual.com booking anything during the week/overnight or whatever gives you the same results as I do. . . I do this ALL the time too :rolleyes: and have never paid more than $400 r/t between ORD/IAH usually staying 3 days. . . [/rhetorical]

. . .

If my employer told me I had to stay three nights, I would tell him that he needed to get a new employee.

We have told you the facts as well, a weekday one night stay costs $1,000. Nowhereman paid the going rate, all your showing is that you take different trips.

I just searched United's website, looking for a flight from Houston 21 days from now, with a 2 night stay. I found a flight (round trip) in the $700's range.

Nowhereman, you're getting hosed

Well comparing Tom In Chicago to Nowhereman, it just looks like the "Saturday night stay" rule is making Tom's fare cheaper and Nowhereman's expensive.

But there's also booking classes (refundability, etc.). Nowhereman, what booking class are you being given for your fare? The order (this assumes economy class), from most expensive to least expensive, is roughly:
Y (fully refundable), B; M, E, U; H, Q; V, W, G; S, T, K, L.
So, your travel agent might be getting you a slightly more expensive booking class so that you can avoid certain penalties/fees for cancellations and changes. Not too uncommon for business travel. Enjoy the frequent flyer miles (you can get a higher multiple with the highest booking classes).

Just an fyi: I dont always use the travel agent. I actually explicitly said ive done it myself and tried the agent and gotten the same results. The facts are that you can't fly like I do to Houston unless you are willing to pay out the ass. I usually am not able to book three weeks in advance like i did this time and usually have two weeks notice max. I' ve gotten tickets for less before, but it depends on how high the demand to fly to Houston is during any given week. Ive seen prices at $1000 one month in advance before because some convention or something was going on so it is not as if there is some rule that says prices are $x three weeks in advance.

Also, for the record, I didnt use the travel agent this time and bought them off UALs website. Additionally prices can vary depending on what day you are booking them. For example, the most special fares show up on tuesdays for some reason so if you buy then you are more likely to get a discount rate. Airline fares are a voodo science at best, but the point is that UAL charges way too fucking much to go to Houston. Even at $600 they are charging way too much when I can get tickets to Denver or LA for about half that.

Southwest? Sure it's different airports both here and there, but with cab cost included, you should still be way cheaper than United, not to mention the free bag check.

SATCT - 219 feet tall

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/4063/satct1.jpg
http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/6117/satct2.jpg

^ http://www.exp.com/en/projectsviewer...&projectid=934

:tup: Looking good! These are the same folks that designed the people mover system (soon to also be rehabbed/expanded)

^^ I can't tell; is it short or is it wide?

That tower really is big. The second picture makes it look like the view from Willis Tower.

^ Renders are usually exaggerated in non-material aspects, like having an unrealistically large number of people who are unrealistically happy, handsome, and well-dressed and engaged in unrealistically productive activities. Ever see a grumpy fat guy smoking in a building render? Here, someone took some liberties with the background landscape.

Per Emporis (sorry ex-Emporis guys!), ORD's existing towers are 255ft and 260ft, so this is much smaller. In the US, "quite tall" would be something approaching 400ft (recently built at ATL).

The glass escape stair seems not very tornado-ready. At all. I think I would want my ATC folks to feel safe & comfortable, when tornadoes loom.