DoubleJ

[To the moderator: Though this post discusses an experience with NW reservations, I thought this forum the more appropriate choice to post in as my question is meant to concern seat bucket availability among all airlines and reservations systems and the applicability of those tools that access seat bucket availability.]

I always assumed that seat bucket availability on any given flight was consistent through any reservations system and especially through the airline's own reservations system. Guess I learned something new.

While recently searching for flights for this coming summer (NW, NRT->SFO) on nwa.com (US NWA reservations), I found Q seat bucket availability for the flight I wanted. But when I went to nwa.co.jp (Japan NWA reservations) and checked out the same flight, the cheapest fare being returned was a B seat bucket with an increased fare cost over what I had found on nwa.com.

Assuming it was just an online glitch, I called up NWA reservations here in Japan to make my reservations, but was told the fare and seat bucket I wanted was not available (sold out). When I stated that I was looking at availability for this fare and seat bucket on NWA.com as we spoke and could take the reservation process up to just before the actual purchase, the rep, sounding confused, put me on hold for several minutes. When he came back, he stated that he had spoken to NW in the US and then told me that seat bucket availability did differ between the reservation systems in the US and Japan, and while there was seat bucket availability for this flight if using US-based NW reservations, there was no longer any availability in Japan for this particular seat bucket on the flight in question and so he could not sell me this particular seat bucket/fare.

So same airline, same flight, but differing seat bucket availability? Do these differences occur among other airlines' reservation systems? How does this affect those MR run tools that show seat bucket availability?

holtju2

They do. Absolutely nothing new about it. If you are using tool you must check where the POS is.

DoubleJ

Thanks. This explains a lot, like the purpose of the "sales city" box in the ITA tool. Guess from now on, I'll be checking fares in both (US and JP) locations.

itsme

Now aware nwa.co.jp may not offer the same fare buckets that can be purchased through nwa.com, can't he/she just go ahead and purchase through nwa.com?

I have encountered something similar but somewhat different with United through united. Last week I used the bomb to purchase for myself an L fare ticket BWI-PDX. Then I immediately went back to purchase the same ticket for my wife, but the bomb would only offer me an S fare for her, which cost $50 more. I could only imagine that I had bought the last L bucket on that flight, but when I called UA reservations to find out if that was indeed the case, I was told there were a number of L fares still available at that time. No matter, I could not get another L fare to come up for me. (Could have had CSR book it for me, but I want every last EQM, including the EQM I only get for purchases made through united.bomb.) So wound up on the phone with web support in India, which took an incredible amount of time for a very simple matter (i.e., sell me what the CSR would sell me because the inventory is there, though united.bomb doesn't show it) before completing the transaction.

THEN, I went back a short time later to the bomb and played with alternate itineraries (out and back through SFO for little more time, but 1400 more EQM) and found I could have had the trip for $50 less than I had paid
($239 rather than $289)! So cancelled and rebooked through soon-to-be-no-more Silver Wings with $100 credits applied, bringing out of pocket expense to $139 per ticket.

DON'T TRUST UNITED.COM to give cheapest/best alternatives. They may charge you more to sit in the exact same seat that you need to pay.