Originally Posted by
joshwex90
If there are T or S fares available, what would preclude OP from choosing those seats? Isn't that the point of available inventory?
If there is a published fare in that fare class AND the travel dates meet the fare rules AND the inventory is available then you can buy seats in that class.
If any of those three conditions are not met then you cannot buy that fare.
When buying a ticket it isn't generally common that you'll find the different segments in different buckets. If you need to fly 4 segments to get where you're going and one doesn't have the lower fare then all of them price at the higher fare. The main exception to this is if there is a fare break along the way (i.e. buying FLL-FRA can price either as FLL-EWR + EWR-FRA or as FLL-FRA) but that is much less common an experience.
Originally Posted by
joshwex90
So for my upcoming TLV-EWR flight, there's no S inventory, but if I do TLV-EWR-ZFV, there IS S inventory (in theory)? (Obviously, there may not be, but I'm asking if that's a possibility)
A somewhat different situation. More common is that TLV-EWR has a higher minimum fare requirement than TLV-PHL/ZFV (though that isn't actually the case right now) so even with the lower inventory available that inventory cannot be used because there is no fare at that basis.
There is also the phenomenon known as married segments where inventory is only available with a connection but not a non-stop but that's a whole different beast.