ITA Software Fare Construction
May 30, 2007, 1:17 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2001
Location: YVR
Programs: AC SEMM
Posts: 2,072
ITA Software Fare Construction
Just noticed that itasoftware.com now displays Fare construction details as follows:
Fare construction (sometimes useful to travel agents):
LON MX X/CHI MX MEX 445.42WHAP1MGB MX X/CHI MX LON 445.42WHAP1MGB NUC 890.84 END ROE 0.518602 FARE GBP 462.00 EQU CAD 995.00 XT 86.10GB 30.80UB 12.00YC 15.20XY 10.80XA 5.40AY 23.40UK 25.80XD 130.20YQ 0.90YR 4.90XF ORD4.50
Fare construction (sometimes useful to travel agents):
LON MX X/CHI MX MEX 445.42WHAP1MGB MX X/CHI MX LON 445.42WHAP1MGB NUC 890.84 END ROE 0.518602 FARE GBP 462.00 EQU CAD 995.00 XT 86.10GB 30.80UB 12.00YC 15.20XY 10.80XA 5.40AY 23.40UK 25.80XD 130.20YQ 0.90YR 4.90XF ORD4.50
May 30, 2007, 9:02 pm
#3
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: SJC/SFO
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Posts: 293
May 30, 2007, 10:22 pm
#4
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: MHT/BOS <--> World
Programs: AA Plat 2.8MM
Posts: 4,629
Essentially, you do not need to understand the details of the fare calculation line to understand the basic workings of fares, why things generally price as they do and how to find and construct excellent MRs. Every ticket you have ever bought has such a calculation but these days the site you buy from does the calculation for you automatically. When you purchase a ticket over the phone, generally the agents' computer does the calculation for them. However, on very complex tickets, to get the lower applicable price, this calculation sometimes needs to be done manually. Calling a an airline reservations line, they would put in a request for their tariffs desk to do the calculation if their computer is not pricing the fare combination that you want. These can get very complex and way beyond me and most airline agents.
The fare line includes all fares being used and all applicable taxes and surcharges being added to come to a total fare. This ITA readout would be helpful to travel agents because it tells them how ITA is calculating the fare you are seeing.
When traveling from A to B via C and D, the fare basic could be A-D, A-C & C-D, A-B & B-D, OR A-B & B-C & C-D. The fare calculator is supposed to choose the lowest one but sometime ITA does a better job of choosing the lowest combination than a third party's computer chooses. So a travel agent can manually make it price with the right combination.
Take this round trip from London to Mexico City that prices for $1575.10:
LON = London
MX = Carrier, Mexicana
X/ = transit; not stopover
CHI = Chicago
MX = Carrier, Mexicana again
MEX = Mexico City
608.36 = $608.36 fare to get from London to Mexico City
HKPX6MGB = fare basis (you would see multiple of these if this was not pricing as a through fare)
MX X/CHI MX LON 608.36HKPX6MGB = same thing as above, but going the other way now
NUC 1216.72 = NUC is the basic fare unit. It is the abbreviation for Neutral Unit of Construction. It is a fictitious currency equivalent in value to the United States Dollar (USD). An industry-wide term that carriers and governments use for fare construction purposes and air fare calculations. $1216.72 is the round trip fare
ROE 0.518602 = Rate of currency exchange
FARE GBP 631.00 = GB pounds fare
EQU USD 1252.00 = Equivalent USD amount
XT 11.00YC 14.00XY 10.00XA 5.00AY 79.40GB 28.40UB 21.60UK 23.80XD 120.00YQ 0.90YR 9.00XF ORD4.50 ORD4.50 = The many different surcharges and taxes applicable to a ticket. YC, XY, AY, etc each stand for a certain charge or tax. I don't remember what each stands for but be forwarned; each ticket will have different ones. Each market has a different set of taxes applicable and it takes a lot of work to figure out what they all are especially internationally. The 120.00 YQ above would be the fuel surcharge.
The fare line includes all fares being used and all applicable taxes and surcharges being added to come to a total fare. This ITA readout would be helpful to travel agents because it tells them how ITA is calculating the fare you are seeing.
When traveling from A to B via C and D, the fare basic could be A-D, A-C & C-D, A-B & B-D, OR A-B & B-C & C-D. The fare calculator is supposed to choose the lowest one but sometime ITA does a better job of choosing the lowest combination than a third party's computer chooses. So a travel agent can manually make it price with the right combination.
Take this round trip from London to Mexico City that prices for $1575.10:
LON MX X/CHI MX MEX 608.36HKPX6MGB MX X/CHI MX LON 608.36HKPX6MGB NUC 1216.72 END ROE 0.518602 FARE GBP 631.00 EQU USD 1252.00 XT 11.00YC 14.00XY 10.00XA 5.00AY 79.40GB 28.40UB 21.60UK 23.80XD 120.00YQ 0.90YR 9.00XF ORD4.50 ORD4.50
MX = Carrier, Mexicana
X/ = transit; not stopover
CHI = Chicago
MX = Carrier, Mexicana again
MEX = Mexico City
608.36 = $608.36 fare to get from London to Mexico City
HKPX6MGB = fare basis (you would see multiple of these if this was not pricing as a through fare)
MX X/CHI MX LON 608.36HKPX6MGB = same thing as above, but going the other way now
NUC 1216.72 = NUC is the basic fare unit. It is the abbreviation for Neutral Unit of Construction. It is a fictitious currency equivalent in value to the United States Dollar (USD). An industry-wide term that carriers and governments use for fare construction purposes and air fare calculations. $1216.72 is the round trip fare
ROE 0.518602 = Rate of currency exchange
FARE GBP 631.00 = GB pounds fare
EQU USD 1252.00 = Equivalent USD amount
XT 11.00YC 14.00XY 10.00XA 5.00AY 79.40GB 28.40UB 21.60UK 23.80XD 120.00YQ 0.90YR 9.00XF ORD4.50 ORD4.50 = The many different surcharges and taxes applicable to a ticket. YC, XY, AY, etc each stand for a certain charge or tax. I don't remember what each stands for but be forwarned; each ticket will have different ones. Each market has a different set of taxes applicable and it takes a lot of work to figure out what they all are especially internationally. The 120.00 YQ above would be the fuel surcharge.
Last edited by wanaflyforless; May 30, 2007 at 10:29 pm
May 30, 2007, 11:51 pm
#5
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 116
Thank you! ^ ^ ^
May 31, 2007, 2:48 am
#6
Join Date: Apr 2005
Programs: AF/KL FB Plat ; A3 Gold ; HH Gold ; IHG Plat Amb
Posts: 2,380
Essentially, [B]
When traveling from A to B via C and D, the fare basic could be A-D, A-C & C-D, A-B & B-D, OR A-B & B-C & C-D. The fare calculator is supposed to choose the lowest one but sometime ITA does a better job of choosing the lowest combination than a third party's computer chooses. So a travel agent can manually make it price with the right combination.
When traveling from A to B via C and D, the fare basic could be A-D, A-C & C-D, A-B & B-D, OR A-B & B-C & C-D. The fare calculator is supposed to choose the lowest one but sometime ITA does a better job of choosing the lowest combination than a third party's computer chooses. So a travel agent can manually make it price with the right combination.
Does anyone know exactly what END ON END is and how it applies in fare calculations? have I understood right?
May 31, 2007, 4:02 am
#7
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: MHT/BOS <--> World
Programs: AA Plat 2.8MM
Posts: 4,629
aren't there restrictions regarding "END ON END"? i understood that for A-C-A via B each time, breaking the fare this way A-B & B-C each way, if A-B or B-C are like END ON END NOT PERMITTED, it would not price on the same ticket. If breaking the fare is cheaper than a A-C-A, the passenger would need to buy 2 separate tickets ABA and BCB losing connecting services like luggage through, checkin to end destination etc...
Does anyone know exactly what END ON END is and how it applies in fare calculations? have I understood right?
Does anyone know exactly what END ON END is and how it applies in fare calculations? have I understood right?
Generally, "End on End" is permitted by the fare rules. Just not allways.
A real example, from the cheapest US SAN-ORD fare:
PERMITTED COMBINATIONS UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED DOUBLE OPEN JAWS NOT PERMITTED. ADD-ONS NOT PERMITTED. END-ON-END END-ON-END COMBINATIONS PERMITTED. VALIDATE ALL FARE COMPONENTS. TRAVEL MUST BE VIA THE POINT OF COMBINATION. OPEN JAWS/2-COMPONENT CIRCLE TRIPS/MULTI-COMPONENT CIRCLE TRIPS FARES MAY BE COMBINED ON A HALF ROUND TRIP BASIS -TO FORM SINGLE OPEN JAWS. A MAXIMUM OF ONE STOPOVER PERMITTED AT A FARE BREAK POINT. MILEAGE OF THE OPEN SEGMENT MUST BE EQUAL/LESS THAN MILEAGE OF THE SHORTEST FLOWN SEGMENT. -TO FORM 2-COMPONENT CIRCLE TRIPS -TO FORM MULTI-COMPONENT CIRCLE TRIPS A MAXIMUM OF 2 STOPOVERS PERMITTED AT FARE BREAK POINTS. PROVIDED - COMBINATIONS ARE WITH ANY FARE FOR CARRIER US IN ANY RULE IN ANY TARIFF. NOTE - THE CITY PAIRS BELOW ARE CONSIDERED THE SAME POINT- BUR-LAX BUR-LGB BUR-ONT LGB-LAX LGB-ONT LAX-ONT ORD-MDW FLL-MIA JFK-LGA JFK-NYC JFK-EWR LGA-EWR LGA-NYC EWR-NYC OAK-SFO BWI-DCA BWI-IAD BWI-WAS DCA-IAD DCA-WAS IAD-WAS
May 31, 2007, 4:37 am
#8
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: BRU
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Posts: 6,856
May 31, 2007, 7:10 am
#10
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: BRU
Programs: LH SEN, SN Gold, Eurostar Carte Blanche, BA, QF, AF
Posts: 6,856
SmilingBoy.
Jul 19, 2007, 7:52 am
#11
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 1
i have this fare construction but i can't find anybody to book it online what do you guys recommend?
WAS UA X/FRA RJ X/AMM RJ ALP 546.50VKABE RJ X/AMM RJ X/LON UA WAS 546.50VKABE NUC 1093.00 END ROE 1.00 FARE USD 1093.00 XT 5.50YC 7.00XY 5.00XA 30.20US 2.50AY 16.10RA 14.10JO 29.10UB 170.00YQ 4.50XF IAD4.50
WAS UA X/FRA RJ X/AMM RJ ALP 546.50VKABE RJ X/AMM RJ X/LON UA WAS 546.50VKABE NUC 1093.00 END ROE 1.00 FARE USD 1093.00 XT 5.50YC 7.00XY 5.00XA 30.20US 2.50AY 16.10RA 14.10JO 29.10UB 170.00YQ 4.50XF IAD4.50
Jul 20, 2007, 2:45 am
#12
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Bay Area (QSF), CA
Programs: (almost) everything!
Posts: 1,985
i have this fare construction but i can't find anybody to book it online what do you guys recommend?
WAS UA X/FRA RJ X/AMM RJ ALP 546.50VKABE RJ X/AMM RJ X/LON UA WAS 546.50VKABE NUC 1093.00 END ROE 1.00 FARE USD 1093.00 XT 5.50YC 7.00XY 5.00XA 30.20US 2.50AY 16.10RA 14.10JO 29.10UB 170.00YQ 4.50XF IAD4.50
WAS UA X/FRA RJ X/AMM RJ ALP 546.50VKABE RJ X/AMM RJ X/LON UA WAS 546.50VKABE NUC 1093.00 END ROE 1.00 FARE USD 1093.00 XT 5.50YC 7.00XY 5.00XA 30.20US 2.50AY 16.10RA 14.10JO 29.10UB 170.00YQ 4.50XF IAD4.50
Fare Basis Code: VKABE
UA - V class
RJ - S class
$1093 base + $170 YQ surcharge + misc. taxes
Expedia can price it out. $1382.20 all-in
Sep 12, 2007, 4:18 pm
#13
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: UK
Posts: 1,484
Let' say my TA cannot find a particular fare and I managed to locate it on ITA.
From what I understand, one can paste the fare construction string code into the TA's GDS, right? Will the TA be able to pull up the fare then?
I asked my TA but she was reluctant to do that? She muttered something about back invoicing.
Thanks in advance and if you can point me in the right direction/additional reading material, I would be pleased.
Still trying to learn more.
From what I understand, one can paste the fare construction string code into the TA's GDS, right? Will the TA be able to pull up the fare then?
I asked my TA but she was reluctant to do that? She muttered something about back invoicing.
Thanks in advance and if you can point me in the right direction/additional reading material, I would be pleased.
Still trying to learn more.
Sep 28, 2007, 5:00 pm
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Worldwide
Posts: 12,949
The fare construction line should enable a competent TA to make a booking, using the exact fare(s) question (or give you an exact reason for being unable to do so) -- it's not an automated/copy-and-paste process.
