US Airways Dividend Miles - A Fares

I just purchase a non-refundable first return fare CLT-LAX for $923 all-in. Thought it was a pretty good deal, and noticing it is booked into "A" class, am just wondering if there are any disadvantages to it, ie: getting bumped to economy in an equipment downsize situation.

Last week I flew CLT-PHX, and the equipment on flight 1507 was downsized from a 321 to a 320 bumping a row of pax in F. I was in Y and only got wind of some disgruntled pax at the gate who were told they were reseated in the back, as they were upgraded for free and did not pay for F. Anyone know of the priority in these situations in regards to A fares?

An A fare is a first class fare. In the extremely unlikely event that you would have an equipment swap, you would have priority over an upgrader. An A fare isn't an "automatic upgrade" coach fare (i.e. "an UP" fare) - it's a discounted first fare (but still a first class fare).

There's been a lot of other discussion on this board about what an "A" fare really means. I've probably booked 30 of these over the last couple years, and here are my thoughts:

1. Technically, I think it is a coach fare that is instantly upgraded (but differently from a "preferred upgrade" fare for elite members). That is what US has told me in the past. When I've asked what the difference is between an "A" fare and an "F" fare, the answers have mostly been gibberish, but from what I've been able to piece together, it is along the lines of "it is technically a coach fare, so you won't be reaccomodated in first if there are complications." The same goes if you are bumped from first on an "A" fare to coach for whatever reason, and you ask for compensation.

EDIT: 1a. It just occured to me that the OP said he booked a non-refundable "A" fare. That would be one difference between your "A" and an "F." "F" are fully refundable. Though, I've also had fully refundable "A" fares too.

2. That being said, I have never once had an issue (of course I will now on tomorrow's "A" flight!!). If I have to switch flights, if there is still an F seat open, they have always put me there. If there's no F seat, you sit in coach, but this would be the case even if you bought an "F" ticket (i.e., an "F" ticket won't trump people that are already sitting in F because of an upgrade). Though, I've never been in a situation where I asked for compensation for being bumped to coach from first on an "A" fare.

3. Some on FT have made comments to the effect of, it is technically a coach fare, so you get what you pay for if you have issues. I completely disagree with this. Many times the "Unrestricted First" price on US's website is an "A" fare. With no way to distinguish between an "A" and "F" fare. That is, short of calling US, you have no way to book a full "F" ticket if an "A" is what comes up as unrestricted in the search results. If US tried to later pull the bit where they tried to deny compensation for bumping you to coach, I would fight it like crazy, and even go so far as to call it deceptive marketing on US's part.

4. All that being said, at the end of the day, I've never noticed any real difference between an "A" fare and an "F" fare.

Just my 2 Yen.

on an a321 just make sure you're not in row 4 in case there is a swap to an a320 or an envoy equipped 757. if there isn't time to re-arrange by paid class / status, row 4 gets moved.

US runs a very good operation, the 321s are in general quite new, and these equipment swaps are rare.

The US "A" Fare is an Upgraded Coach Fare (usually from Full "Y", or equivalent) to a Restricted "F" Class SEAT. Paid "F" has priority over "A". Even though an "A" may have a confirmed seat in the "F" cabin, if there is an equipment downgrade to an aircraft with fewer "F" seats, causing an pseudo overbooking situation, the "A" Fares would be the first to be moved to the Coach Cabin. If that occurs, there is no fare adjustment, since the passenger only paid for "Y".

. If that occurs, there is no fare adjustment, since the passenger only paid for "Y".

This is exactly what I mentioned above that gets me sideways. I would argue that you are entitled to compensation for being downgraded. When you bought the "A" fare (but for being on FT), you would have no idea that you are buying a YUP type of fare. All you know is that you selected "First Class" and bought a first class ticket. US markets it as such, and makes no distinction (i.e., US doesn't tell you anywhere that you are buying a YUP fare).

Though, I would argue this would be a different story if US's webpage was setup like AA's where it specifically has an "Instant Upgrade" category of first class tickets.

Out of curiosity, I pulled the fare rules for a nonrefundable A fare on PHL-MSP on a random upcoming date:

"[KVS Availability Tool 7.0.3/Diamond - DotRes: PHL-MSP/US/AXA0NA2/U/629 USD]
[...]
NOTE - THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS INFORMATIONAL AND NOT
VALIDATED FOR AUTOPRICING.
ECONOMY WEB WITH UPGRADE TO FIRST AT TIME OF PURCHASE
OTHER CONDITIONS
BOTH ECONOMY AND FIRST CLASS BOOKING INVENTORIES
MUST BE AVAILABLE AT TIME OF BOOKING.

[Flight Application]
THE FARE COMPONENT MUST BE ON
ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING
ANY US FLIGHT OPERATED BY US.
[...]
CHANGES
[..]
IF VOLUNTARY CHANGES REQUESTED BY THE PASSENGER
RESULTS IN A LOWER FARE APPLIED TO THE TICKET
REFUND OF THE DIFFERENCE IN FARE IS NOT PERMITTED.
THE APPLICABLE SERVICE FEE WILL BE COLLECTED AT
THE TIME OF REISSUE AND ANY FARE DIFFERENCE WILL
BE FORFEITED BY THE PASSENGER.
//TICKET UPGRADE EXCEPTION - SEE BELOW//
TICKET UPGRADE -
PASSENGERS UPGRADING TO AN ENVOY/FIRST CLASS FARE
//C-/D-/Z-/J-/F-/Y-UP-/YUP-// WILL NOT BE ASSESSED
THE CHANGE FEE - ALL OTHER RULES MUST BE MET - SEE
BEFORE/AFTER PROVISIONS BELOW. ANY NONREFUNDABLE
AMOUNT REMAINS NONREFUNDABLE."

To me, this is clearly a coach fare with upgrade. And that's how I've always assumed A fares (or their equivalents) to be on other carriers as well. Whether that's obvious on the web site is a different matter.

The only functional difference between F & A is that F is fully refundable/changeable. If you need to change your A ticket, not only will you pay $150, but if there isn't A availability on your new flight, you will need to pay the difference between F & A on top of the $150 (if you wish to stay in FC).

Is simply a discounted First Class fare. It is NOT an upgraded economy fare. If your aircraft is downgraded, you will have priority over everyone else except those who bought F class fares.

Thanks for the information everyone. Much appreciated!

To me, this is clearly a coach fare with upgrade. And that's how I've always assumed A fares (or their equivalents) to be on other carriers as well. Whether that's obvious on the web site is a different matter.

If this is a coach fare, then why do I get the class of service bonus?

If this is a coach fare, then why do I get the class of service bonus?

'A' bucket fares been a long-standing contradiction that I wish someone would resolve. I buy a bunch of A and F fares, and here's been my experience as to the downsides versus F fares:

- If you pay for an A "first class" fare but wind up sitting in coach, you don't get any refund. At least with true F fares, you can get a refund of the difference in most cases (or so has been my experience).
- In IRROPS, my experience is that you are lower priority versus F fares, but above all other fares.
- In an equipment downgauge on the day of departure, your seat assignment dictates where you sit unless you're on a full F fare, in which case they downgrade upgraders by status. This is why I'll only book 1-3 A/C/D/F on 767 domestic segments - I've seen this happen many times.

On the plus side:
- You sit in F (usually) and don't play the upgrade game (if preferred)
- You get the class of service EQM bonus

So A fares act like F in some cases, and Y in others, and the differences aren't obvious to many. There are also both refundable and nonrefundable A fares in at least some markets. However, the fare rules are clear in that these are coach fares that get you F seats and similar privileges, but they carry certain disadvantages versus full F.

If you are unaware US sells "A" fares that are economy fares that book into F. Some of these fares are refundable some of them are not. Now, US's computer systems seems recognize them as all being non-refundable.

Now, US.com will sell you a refundable A ticket, the reciept will show you that it is refundable. But when you go to refund it, the system will not let you refund it because it thinks it is a non-refundable ticket.

I have to go fight with US now...

I just bought an A fare for my return flight to LAX after coachrowsey's retirement party. (I booked an el cheapo for the outbound.) The website clearly states "First Non-refundable." Whatever US internally "considers" these flights for downgrade or re-booking purposes, if they are marketed and sold to the customer as first class fares, they should be treated as first class fares.

I put myself in row 2, though, just in case. :D

The website clearly states "First Non-refundable." Whatever US internally "considers" these flights for downgrade or re-booking purposes, if they are marketed and sold to the customer as first class fares, they should be treated as first class fares.

This is exactly the point I make above. US markets as a "First class" fare. What they call it internally is completely irrleveant.