Guide to AA fare basis codes
 

Ever wanted to decipher those tricky American fare codes efficiently without having to read through the fair rules? Help me make a guide to figuring out American fare codes!

Does anyone know what the 26 means in the Y26 fare basis code (or F26, Y26UP, etc.)? I've been told it means you can only use the fare on AA, but why use "26" for this?

Here's my understanding so far. Parts may be inaccurate or not apply to all fares.

first letter: booking class (except for UP fares)

first number (other than 26): domestic: advance purchase requirement. if it is 0, same day ticketing is allowed, but waitlisting is not.
second number: minimum stay requirement
third number: maximum stay requirement

A: one-way
R: round-trip

AP: advance purchase
BIZ/BZN: instant purchase non-refundable fares for business travelers--no Saturday night stay requirement, 30-day maximum stay
FS: flight-specific
J/JFK: JFK only
N/NR: non-refundable
Z: restricted, which may mean confirmation required (possibly refundable though)
AA: Web-only fare
UP: instant upgrade into different booking class

GB: originate in GB, following number is year of fare applicability
US: originate in US

E: minimum stay requirement (Saturday unless overridden by second number)
M: Saturday stay requirement (second number becomes maximum stay)
C: next number is change fee

second position:
P: peak season
H: high season
K: shoulder season
L: low season
M: other seasonal restriction

third position:
W: Sun 12:01a-Mon 11:59a, Thu noon-Sat 11:59a
X: not on Fri or Sun
B: weekend (Thu/Fri-Mon, no Sun with X)
S: midweek (Tue-Thu or Tue-Wed, also Mon with X)
F: specific times (e.g. daily 8:45a-9:45a)
O: specific times and dates (e.g. Tue/Wed 8:45a-9:45a)

A: advance ticketing required
R: reservation confirmation required
D: ??? (appears on shorter flights)

last position:
S: fuel surcharge
G: restricted day of first travel
X: restricted day of first travel

Yes, I am a geek. I will edit this message to include your submissions/corrections. For all I know there is an official source of this information, for which I would be eternally grateful.

Flight specific fares have FS in the fare basis

Just made a reservation for 3 people for AA travel next month. Going through Travelocity saved me $300 over the AA.com fare (go figure)...and one of those legs is LIT-ORD which, I believe, qualifies for the ORD07 promotion (double miles).

My question is this: Where can I find what my fare code or fare basis code is for our flights? The promotion excludes L and N fares, but I see no number anywhere that could conceivably be a fare code. Must I call AA?

Thanks.

don in la....you can see the codes on the fare/pax details screen as you book. it is on the left near top "detailed fare rules"....after that, call aa.

grouse,

First, let me say how great this listing has been. I've had it bookmarked for quite some time, and now that Expert Flyer is around, it gives even greater visibility into AA's fare structure!

I do have a question, though. From looking at fares I've found in EF, it appears that perhaps the A indicates one-way, and the R indicates round-trip? Is this saying the same thing as the text I've quoted above? I'm not sure the difference between "advance ticketing" and "reservation confirmation"

Thanks!
lbbzman

On AA.com get your PNR, if you don´t know it, retrieve it on the reservations page.

Once with your PNR go to REFUNDS and insert PNR/Last name, once the record comes up, ask for a refund and it should produce a screen with all your ticket, fare basis, etc - DO NOT PROCEED from that point on :D

ORD07? I get an error code when I try to register for that... Oh, I see why!!! Sorry!

You can check your fare code as recommended on FT - the "near-refund" way, or using a fee service like ExpertFlyer, using other engines to look at price-comparable fares and checking fare rules (slightly less reliable,) or call AA. If you have to upgrade the fare class, you may have to pay a change fee...

My apologies, folks. I resurrected an old thread without saying so first. The ORD07 code mentioned by Don in LA appears to be from over a year ago. I brought up the old thread b/c I had questions about grouse's original listing (which I think is fantastic, especially when combined with ExpertFlyer).

Cheers,
lbbzman

Glad you liked it! :D

It's not the same thing as what I said. Why don't you provide some example city pairs and fare basis codes to support your inference here and I'll see what I can pull up on Travelocity (can't afford Expertflyer at the moment).

A ticket is a contract to fly you from ABC to XYZ. A confirmed reservation entitles you to a specific seat on flight 1234 on 29FEB.

Remember these are all guesses (hopefully educated) and AA is free to change what they mean at any time.

Here's what EF says the fares are for DFW-MCO on AA, 2/24/05:

Here's DFW-BWI, AA, 1/31/05:

Those all end in 50N. On Travelocity I seem to find "50N" fares mostly in markets where AA is competing with DL.

I think the C50 indicates the $50 change fee, which yes, seems to be on routes where AA has competition. I believe the "N" at the end of the code indicates "Non-refundable."

You're right of course. I even had the meaning of C in there already and forgot to check it. D'oh!

I've updated the info to include A and R.

Please be patient with this post. I am relatively new to FT and a virgin to the Fare Basis Codes. I've always had my TA book my fares and I have been satisfied, but now she's selling her business and I need to learn. Here are a bunch of questions relating to the OP.

1 - Did you ever find out what 26 means?

2- What do the other first numbers after the A or R mean. In the above examples ther is a NA14. What does the 1 mean, from your description the 4 means minimum stay. Correct?

3- What does Z at the end mean?

4- I thought with the AA new fare codes that there are no more Saturday night stay requirements and that one day is just like another - Sunday is no different than Tuesday. Yet again your examples from EF for the future lists M - Saturday stay required.

5- Also what about the maximum Y class and F fares. I thought the Max Y for one way was $499. In the first example EF lists 946.

6 - Now for what will seem like a really dumb question - If I find all this info on EF what do I do with it? Let's use your first example so I see that there is a one way fare to MCO for 96.00 how do I find it and book it on line?

Thanks so much for any help.

It means that the ticket is not endorsable to another airline like a straight Y fare would be. As to why 26, someone told me that it is a remnant of some ancient AA fare simplification scheme of their own. I'm really more curious about this than anything else. ;)

My best guest is that NA14C50N means:

N: fare basis code
A: round trip fare (maybe)
14: 14-day advance purchase requirement
C50: USD50 change fee
N: non-refundable

Presumably that it is a "restricted" fare? The K26Z listed is a refundable restricted fare. The difference between its rules and those of Y26 (other than the booking class) is that for the K26Z you have to have a confirmed reservation and open returns are not allowed.

Well it must mean something else here! :) I notice there are seasonal and flight applicability restrictions on that YUPMZ. That's probably what the M denotes.

This is not an exact science. You still have to read the fare rules to figure out the fare rules. But if you can partially figure out what the rules are just by looking at the basis code, it is a big help.

AA said that their max Y OW fare systemwide would be $499? When? Anyway, the Y26 is as good as Y *except* that you cannot use it to fly on an airline other than AA. No carrier has ever said that there will be a maximum charge to buy a ticket from them after which they will pay another carrier to fly you.

Find an itinerary that meets the rules of the fares and has appropriate availability and book it on aa.com or wherever.