charlesrhona

I am fairly new to this game - but learning fast! Can someone explain to me what each selling class letter stands for e.g. First F,A, Club World J, C, D, etc. Does a printout exist that gives the entire lst of letters used and an explanation for each?

BA or bust

Hi charlesrhona and welcome to FT!

The answer you want is in the 'Ultimate Guide' sticky. I recommend a large glass of your favourite tipple and and some quality time and you will learn an enormous amount.

For convenience I have also pasted the answer from the sticky below:

A � Discount First
B � Semi-Flexible Economy
C � Discount Club
D � Discount Club
E � Discount World Traveller Plus
F � Full Fare First
G - Groups
H � Semi-Flexible Economy
I � Discount Club
J � Full Fare Club
K � Discount Economy
L � Discount Economy
M � Discount Economy
N � Discount Economy
O � Discount Economy
P � World Traveller Plus Redemptions
Q � Discount Economy
R � Discount Club (used to be Concorde!)
S � Discount Economy
T � Discount World Traveller Plus
U � Club Redemptions
V � Discount Economy
W � Full Fare World Traveller Plus
X � Economy Redemption
Y � Full Fare Economy
Z � First Redemptions

heartybob

Hi charlesrhona - welcome to FT if you haven't been welcomed before!

The "READ THIS FIRST" sticky at the top of the first page has a lot of useful information, including an explanation of the different fare codes, or "buckets" as they are affectionately known around here.

The list is a bit out of date, but broadly accurate.

Look at the second post in that thread and click on the "Fare Buckets/Letters" link.

Edited to add:
I see BA or bust got there first!
Must learn to type faster ...

charlesrhona

Thanks for the prompt replies. Wife and I have a trip in F coming up to SFO and will be making full use of everything on offer!

charlesrhona

Some more questions! For our First flight to SFO from ABZ via LHR later this year we used BA Miles plus Amex 2 4 1. E-ticket says we have access to CCR on outward journey but only shows access to Terraces Lounges on return although we also return from SFO to LHR in First. Will we be entitled to use CCR on return prior to flight to ABZ? Also I presume access to Arrivals Lounge not appropriate as we transfer via flight connections to domesatic flight and similar facilities available in Terraces Lounges. If we wanted to use Arrivals Lounge would we have to clear customs and then re-enter T5 security after use?

BA1A

Yes, keep your F boarding passes and you can gain access to the CCR on your return journey. Don't bother with the Arrivals Lounge, just use FCC and then head straight to the CCR, otherwise, yes you are correct, you would need to clear customs and then re-enter T5 security to get to the CCR if you did decided to use the Arrivals Lounge. As you can get breakfast and a shower at the CCR and even book a private Cabana, it's just not worth bothering with the Arrivals Lounge.

LeisureFirst

In my opinion the Arrivals Lounge breakfast is much better, but it really needs to be accompanied by some of the fizz from the CCR.

Sixth Freedom

Welcome to FT charlesrhona.^

Each letter ("class") represents a certain amount of seats ("inventory") in each cabin. Each letter also has a fare attached to it. So the letters are used to manage inventory and prices.

I will attempt to explain what they mean with an example.

The first class cabin has three classes which can be sold. They are F, A and Z. F is always associated with the highest fares and A fares are always lower than F. Out of 14 seats in the nose of a 747 BA's yield management system will calculate how many seats in each class to make available for sale.

When the flights open 360 days in advance all 14 seats will be available for sale in F (although sometimes F availability may be less than 14 if the country where the fare is being quoted in is less expensive than the point of sale at the other end of the route - fares are available in both directions).

14 seats may be available in A if the flight is not expected to be constrained. But the more demand anticipated the more seats will be protected for F. Similarly Z (mileage redemption - fuel surcharge revenue only) seats will probably only be available for sale if all the seats are not expected to sell for money. BA will generally prefer to sell a seat for money than for miles.

So the number of seats available can be modelled as F >= A >= Z. Z is said to be nested in A and A is said to be nested in F.

Similarly for Club J >= C >= D >= R >= I >= U where U is the mileage redemption class.

For WTP W >= E >= T >=P where P is the mileage redemption class.

WT I am not sure about.

For the fares available for sale. F > A, J > C > D > R > I and W > E > T.

It is not always true that A > J, I > W and T > Y.

BA1A

But not if you have a connecting flight surely?

LeisureFirst

The trouble is that it isn't really. For example, four fare buckets are described simply as "Discount Club" with no indication of the difference between them. Of course things like the level of flexibility depend on the full fare code, not just the first letter, but some generalizations and further comments can be made. The sticky doesn't even rank them from most to least expensive.

And there are eight called just "Discount Economy".

LeisureFirst

I don't understand what you mean. That you don't want champagne if you're about to take a connecting flight?

Sixth Freedom

I always go for the arrivals lounge as it is a buffet so I get exactly what I want. Unlike the CCR where the breakfast is brought to you.

No problem with a 2 hour connection.

BA1A

I meant, surely it's better to head straight to the CCR if you are connecting to another flight, rather than clear customs, use the Arrivals Lounge, and then make your way back through security to use the CCR?

LeisureFirst

Well it is definitely not the case in ET that redemption seats are only available if the lowest paid fare bucket is available. I have definitely taken advantage of X-availability when the paid availability is showing something like Y7 B2 H0 K0...
I think I have also found a last-minute Club redemption when there has been no R or I-availability (I really do mean "I0" - not just that it was outside the UK fare AP requirement - the flight was certainly packed).

LeisureFirst

I was talking solely about the quality of the breakfast. That's what I meant by the phrase "the..breakfast is much better".

Which is more practical I don't know, as I never use the Flight Connections centre, although certainly there seem to have been some reports (maybe not at T5 right now) suggesting it is actually faster to avoid it. Even if it is slower, if the OP has a long (three-hours or so) connection time, he may prefer to use the Arrivals Lounge first. The breakfast is certainly much better if you have a big appetite, and in my experience the wait for a spa treatment is much less.