lifeonitsown

I am confused about something. I see a lot of people traveling on full fare Y tickets. Why would anyone do that? Of course I understand the flexibility to change the ticket or cancel the ticket, but lets say you book a full fare Y for $1000 about one month ago because you are unsure about your travel plans.

Say you are sure to travel today. Technically, you can call and cancel the full fare Y and book a restricted cheaper ticket for todays travel and still get a discount. One might say that they may be unsure of the return flight, but then cant you use the price and schedule feature to book restricted ticket for onwards journey and full fare for return journey. Then before the return journey you could technically again call back, cancel, and book restricted one way or if not, you still ended up saving money from the earlier full fare.

I ask this because i was looking at flights from DFW-ORD for today evening and restricted tickets were 600 and full fare 1100. If a person is sure to travel today, why would s/he buy full fare.

If free upgrade is one of the explanations, then wont it be cheaper to just buy 35 dollar upgrade stickers on restricted fare?

FWAAA

I don't think very many passengers book full Y a month in advance. Probably doesn't happen very often. Two days in advance? Sure. A month? Doubtful.

19103_aa

Some of us have travel rules for our company stating upgrades cannot be purchased in any way, yet full-fare Y tickets are reimbursable.

In many cases it is also your trump card with irregular operations. Add to that the issues of easy exchange and flexibility, and they can be attractive to the right customer.

Certainly not for everyone, but they are right for some flyers.

brp

Well, here's a thread that went off track toward the end, but the beginning shows that there are cases where the passenger may expect a 50% refund if the return is not used (for whatever reason). Only full fare will assure this.

Cheers.

ESpen36

Another big advantage of full-fare tickets is that they receive 1.5 q-points per mile. Can be a plus if you are seeking to qualify by points rather than miles or segments.

AA2070

The EXP benefit of being able to purchase seats on sold-out flights also books into full Y.

nd_eric_77

In my first consulting job, we had a policy of always purchasing fully refundable / changeable (Y domestic; C / J for intercontinental) tickets. The cost was passed directly to the customers. It was cool having that amount of flexibility. Then in the post-bubble / post-y2k tech slump, the policy was changed to purchasing cheapest available fare. There are exceptions in limited circumstances (ie: can purchase slightly more expensive ticket for nonstop flight, cannot be forced to take a flight with a time conflicting with work schedule, etc). It has more or less been this way with every company I have worked with since.

lifeonitsown

Thank you all for the replies!!!

Shouldn't the companies be more aware of these things and make the upgrades reimbursable. I have a feeling that in the end, companies end up losing lot more money because of stupid policies than just allowing some flexibility.

The new feature of AA (price and schedule) allows people to book restricted ticket on one leg and full fare on the return. If you are certain you are going but not certain you are coming, this would save more money. Right?

Again on personal dime, it seems like an expensive way to earn. On the companies dime, it still seems like an expensive way to earn, except company is losing. In the end i feel that companies should have an incentive scheme where in if you are able to get a $2000 ticket for $200, they share the $1800 with you.

Ok, this seems reasonable.

Again, economically, this doesn't seem like a good strategy. The customer will build in these costs into the contract negotiations and pay less for other stuff.

nd_eric_77

Thats why it is no longer standard in the enterprise software consulting industry! I was not defending the practice; just reporting how it was when I first started working after university.

dayone

For me, buying full Y has always had more to do with availability and last-minute purchases than flexibility.

aamilesslave

Company travel policies sometimes make little sense because they are often created by people that do not travel .


It is my understanding that the most restrictive fare rules apply when mixed fares are used. So unless you can get the better fare as a one way, I don't think this will work.

mach92

My company buys full Y or Y26 or P class. They want the flexability more power to them!

ricktoronto

I fly full fare F or J and frankly it costs not a whole lot more than Y and I change plans often usually on the return. I only fly in J/F , always get a seat, have courteous treament when changing, never worry about upgrades, miles to upgrade and the like. I don't need to pay for the AC, and even if I am not PLT ( and with 0 miles YTD I won't be next year) since J allows you in anyway.

I have bought FF Y or B on occasion on routes where there are liberal C seats at the time of booking and historically on the return in case I change the return, and save on the upgrade and no copay.

ricktoronto

If you can pay one way for the fares then you just buy two separate tickets. Vs. one PNR.

Or buy one way for one leg and use half of a return ticket with the other half much later or never.

I buy monthly C tickets to CA on TACA and COPA and for whatever reason the sum of two one ways is often $400 or more less than a C round trip. Even TACA at the CTO here or there cannot explain how that is. Same fare basis and no restrictions, so it is not that.

dayone

I think you're right and I don't think unrestricted Y combines with a restricted fare to create a pure mixed fare (like when combining an advance purchase Q and K).