United Airlines Will Impose Minimum Stay Requirement by October

Travelers turning to United Airlines for Fall and Winter travel in 2008 will now be required to meet the minimum-stay guidelines for domestic flights. United Airlines has announced a minimum-stay requirement for all travelers who board a flight after October 6; each traveler will be required to stay at least one to three nights on weekdays, and both nights for weekend flights. The new rules apply to every ticket, and will essentially prevent many people from booking a flight for a same day arrival and departure.

Business travelers in particular may be impacted by the change, as many already prefer to take a flight in and out of a city within the same 24-hour period. The change will require the traveler to spend at least one night in an area hotel – or simply wait at the airport – before heading out to their next destination. Families traveling together may also struggle with the change as they must find neighboring hotels, accommodate for transportation to and from the airport, and plan for taking care of younger children over the course of a longer flight route. Those who are traveling at the last minute to manage an emergency may also incur extra fees and charges as they book a flight that requires a delayed return time.

The minimum-stay policy will be enforced on all flights scheduled for October 6, 2008 and later, and the flight schedules will be accompanied by another noteworthy change - an increase in the lowest fares for one-way tickets.

The bargain tickets that many travelers depended on from United Airlines allowed for one-way tickets to be priced at just $1 more than a roundtrip ticket calculated for one way. Now, each one-way ticket will be priced at $90 more than the standard cost, a considerable increase in costs. Today's fluctuating economy and the increase in fuel costs may have influenced many of these decisions, as airlines make attempts to recover from the increasing transportation expenses.

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