Apologies if this has already been covered elsewhere - refugee from the British Airways / OneWorld program here, so appreciate I may be asking silly questions...


I will soon be taking my first long-haul business class return on Star Alliance, after many, many flights on BA/AA. Routing from Germany to Miami, outbound on Swiss connecting in ZRH, return on Austrian connecting in VIE.


Corporate travel agent made all the bookings, and now I notice my fare class is down as "P" - now I fully expected some sort of 'discount business' or similar fare (I didn't need flex, and booked a while ago), but I seem to recall someone mentioning "P" is actually technically an economy fare which somehow books into business class? Is that right?


I am not too fussed about exact Miles accrual - unlikely to chase serious status on Miles & More when I already have top-tier OneWorld. I signed up to Miles & More just because I may as well, but will have zero status at the time of travel.


My concern is about possible downgrade risk...the outbound Swiss flight to Miami looks (from ExpertFlyer) to still have space available in business (fares available and seat map showing availability). The Austrian flight worries me, however...EF is showing P0 (no cheap business fares available) but still J6 (so they are still willing to sell full-fare business tickets); meanwhile the seat map shows the cabin already full, aside from a small number of 'blocked' seats.


That doesn't look great. On a "P" fare with no status, I somewhat suspect I would be top of the list for a downgrade if needed.


Does anyone have any view / information / evidence either way? Slightly regretting now not just flying with BA....