Originally Posted by
Cloudship
But, IF DL had a three class service, First would likely be above business. Just as it is on say UA.
I am not referring to how each class compares to another one across companies or even within the same company but on different trips. I am talking about on the very same plane/train. In China, and it looks like at least in Austria, if not a few other smaller rail routes, business class is considered more premium than first class. Does this reflect a difference in business practices across countries?
As has been said before, the hierarchy of classes for rail travel has been 1st, 2nd (there also used to be 3rd and I believe, 4th in the U.K.) and has been largely standardised as 1st and 2nd in Europe (post WW-II anyway). So when ÖBB comes in with a new product, they don't have anywhere to slot it w/o disrupting the hierarchy and since the product is sold all over Europe (not by ÖBB alone but by at least DB and Hungarian railways) and as interchangeable/connecting fares (with other rail operators), they had to add a new class.
Eurostar also has different classes though I am unfamiliar with how these developed. Runs as Standard (2nd), Standard Premier (1st?) and Business Premier ("Business"). I am not sure if Eurostar sells connecting fares but I do believe they are sold by Eurostar or its subsidiaries only.
As far as fare homogeneity goes, it wasn't that long ago (well, a decade and a half) that some airlines started to introduce premium economy. For a long time, you could not book that class of service even on closely-linked partner airlines (e.g., (not being able to) booking BA PE tickets on AA.com)