I have mentioned this before, and really did not get a good, or shall I say, full answer.

I often book travel one to two weeks ahead, but rarely 21 or more days in advance. I also rarely stay over a Saturday night. Thus, much of my travel is full-fare, or close to full-fare coach: Y or B class.

(I am still not sure how to read the alphabet on classes, but that is another story. Read: private tutoring solicited <g>.)

Anyway, our travel agent books the trips, and 1/3 to 1/2 of the time, an "A" fare, first class ticket is booked, with the comment, "first class upgrade for full fare coach." This has occurred on UA, US and NW. Additionally, the mileage on my ff account is credited with add'l bonus for first class travel. As I said, sometimes the ticket and iten. comes with this, sometimes not. When the ticket was not automatically upgraded, I have asked the gate agents for upgrades, and usually get a puzzled look, and the comment that "it is not our policy to upgrade Y-class without FF elite status, etc."

I have not seen much mentioned about this type of upgrade, either on this forum, or in any of the web-based travel services, e.g. Travelocity, BixTravel, United Connection, etc.

My questions for the esteemed group are as follows:
1) How does one go about searching for flights with such upgrades;
2) What determines when one gets upgraded;
3) How can I determine from web-based sources, whether this class of service is available (United Connection shows Y-first adn Y-coash, but I am not sure that is what is meant) ?

Thanks.

John

These A class seats are actually booked in a different class. From what I understand the A class seats are typically the same price as Y class, but are actually a different class from Y. So, if you got a Y fare, the A fare seats may have all been sold already.

You can see availibility using Easysabre at http://www.easysabre.com. This tools allows you to see what classes of tickets are available on any given flight, and you can see if A class seats are available for flights on there.

Glad to see this. Didn't know that there was a separate class for this. I use easysabre, so I'll check for this. Great tip.

So, then, an "A" class is different from an "F" class, but both are first class ?

John

If you look at the fare rules, Continental characterizes it as an economy ticket not first. You would have to check each fare in easysabre for each airline.

Actually, I was looking for an online resource that would spell out the basic terms of A, B, C, F, Y, H, K, Q, V and other fare codes. I thought that they were somewhat universal (at least at the basic level).

John

wot abowt the tikkets from 'L'??

Nothing further to add on this subject, but I think that this is the 30th post I need to make it over to be a full-fledged "member" instead of a lowly junior member, so I thought I'd throw in my two cents.

Just a LITTLE more, Djlawman.

Go for it, you have OMNI clearance for another post!!!!!

Light the burners...

Ugh -- guess I better throw in my 15+ years of retail travel experience...

There are really only three "classes of service" -- F=First, C/J=Business, Y=Cattlecar.

Everything else you see is a capacity controlled booking class which is determined by a system known as "yield management" (instituted by AA and done in one form or another by just about everyone...)

For this specific thread:

"A" class is a capacity controlled version of first class -- for most of the airlines mentioned above it is a "reward" for paying the (exobitant) full coach fare assuming availability after yield mgmt says how many full first class fares will be sold and how many (few) ff upgrades will be offered...

I use the full blown version of sabre and haven't seen the easysabre product for years, but you should be able to look at the "fare rules" which will tell you to book in "A" and it will price/ticket at the full "Y" fare...

If anyone would like more info, please email me and I'll attempt to answer specific situations...

Okay, seems that I need ONE MORE post to make it. This is it.

arturo ben traveling on fair from 'L'. arturo's aerlin namd endevor, no fa's, no ferst clas, lousie servic an bad landin. arturo hav defecultie walkin when flite ovr.

On American Airlines, the "A" fare code is the standard code for an elite-level first class upgrade from any coach fare. There is another code (I don't remember what it is) for certificate upgrades.

onefreeman, I think you've got it. I'm pretty sure that when you book an A class ticket, that *is* a seat in first class, not a space available upgrade or anything else, at least that's how I understand it. It's not the same as other airlines offers to upgrade full fare Y on space available basis!

On NW, a full fare coach seat often qualifies for an upgrade based upon the Connect First program. Although all printed material says that you have to request the upgrade and be booked in first, I know that's not always the case. Also, if you travel often and your profile is in the system, you may just end up with someone who upgrades you based upon the amount of business you do or number of miles you fly, etc.