Originally Posted by
SpammersAreScum
All a reasonable characterization, except that ...
1) saying that the use of the first table means "fare data is available" is not. I believe that in some of the specific situations listed for the first table, fare data is in fact not available.
2) noting specifically manual changes is dubious. I don't think we've seen any automatic changes that weren't subsequently manually changed, so we can't imply that solely-automatic would have been treated differently.
#1 Yes, you are right. Of the two special fares tables, the top one isn't contingent on fare data being available. It is simply used in the circumstances described in the list whether fare data is available or not.
#2 I guess my point is, something causes the data to become "unavailable" that results in the bottom special fare table being used. I don't think anyone here has definitively identified when this will happen or what types of transactions will cause the fare data to become unavailable. I believe, anecdotally, that unusual changes to a PNR are more likely to cause this. My personal example of a "manual change" was this: My flight's schedule changed, so I called in to switch my flight. The original inventory wasn't available on the new flight so I was switched to next available booking code. It was an AAVacations bulk ticket to begin with.
My outbound flights (the ones with the schedule change) used the bottom special fares table. My inbound flights used the top special fares table (due to AAV). I don't know why, but it makes sense that the bottom special fares had to do with the reissued ticket under the different inventory.