Originally Posted by
yyznomad
New bookings as if this past Tuesday.
Anything booked before that is not affected.
Yes, AC has been laying the groundwork for this for a while. Branded fares were introduced to the GDS a while back, and some might remember on the Altitude site the Booking Class column became Fare Option/Booking Class, and in some instances was saying TANGO or FLEX instead of the letter. This is why.
The current Economy fare structure is as follows
Y B M U H Q V W G S T L A K
Y and B are Latitude (as of now - I'm not sure of any changes planned)
Previously, for Domestic and US travel, M U H Q V W G were Flex, and S T L A K were Tango.
However, now the entire M U H Q V W G S T L A K will be both Tango and Flex. It will vary by market which ones may or may not overlap, and which ones will be exclusively Tango and exclusively Flex.
Here is a perfect example from YYZ-YTS
Code:
YTO-YTS CXR-AC WED 01NOV17 CAD
AC-ACK/TG - TANGO
AC YTOYTS 01NOV17
V FARE BASIS BK FARE TRAVEL-TICKET AP MINMAX RTG
1 A21ZATG A X 77.00 R15DE T22SE 21/1 -/ - 100
2 L21ZATG L X 92.00 R15DE T22SE 21/1 -/ - 100
3 T14WLATG T X 123.00 ---- 14/1 -/ - 100
4 T14ZLATG T X 129.00 ---- 14/1 -/ - 100
5 S10WLATG S X 154.00 ---- 10/1 -/ - 100
6 S10ZLATG S X 159.00 ---- 10/1 -/ - 100
7A G10WLATG G X 176.00 ---- 10/1 -/ - 100
8A G10ZLATG G X 183.00 ---- 10/1 -/ - 100
9A G5ZLATG G X 209.00 ---- 5/1 -/ - 100
10A W7WLATG W X 228.00 ---- 7/1 -/ - 100‡
11A W7ZLATG W X 234.00 ---- 7/1 -/ - 100‡
12A G0ZLATG G X 239.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100
13A V3WLATG V X 276.00 ---- 3/1 -/ - 100
14A V3ZLATG V X 281.00 ---- 3/1 -/ - 100
15A V0WLATG V X 293.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100
16A V0ZLATG V X 303.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100
17A Q0ZLATG Q X 330.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100
18A H0ZLATG H X 389.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100
19A U0ZLATG U X 430.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100
20A M0ZLATG M X 500.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100
AC-ACK/FL - FLEX
AC YTOYTS 01NOV17
V FARE BASIS BK FARE TRAVEL-TICKET AP MINMAX RTG
21A A21ZAFL A X 117.00 R15DE T22SE 21/1 -/ - 100
22A L21ZAFL L X 132.00 R15DE T22SE 21/1 -/ - 100
23A T14WLAFL T X 163.00 ---- 14/1 -/ - 100
24A T14ZLAFL T X 169.00 ---- 14/1 -/ - 100
25A S10WLAFL S X 194.00 ---- 10/1 -/ - 100‡
26A S10ZLAFL S X 199.00 ---- 10/1 -/ - 100‡
27I G10WLAFL G X 216.00 ---- 10/1 -/ - 100
28I G10ZLAFL G X 223.00 ---- 10/1 -/ - 100
29I G5ZLAFL G X 249.00 ---- 5/1 -/ - 100
30I W7WLAFL W X 268.00 ---- 7/1 -/ - 100
31I W7ZLAFL W X 274.00 ---- 7/1 -/ - 100
32I G0ZLAFL G X 279.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100
33I V3WLAFL V X 316.00 ---- 3/1 -/ - 100
34I V3ZLAFL V X 321.00 ---- 3/1 -/ - 100
35I V0WLAFL V X 333.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100
36I V0ZLAFL V X 343.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100
37I Q0ZLAFL Q X 370.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100
38I H0ZLAFL H X 429.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100
39I U0ZLAFL U X 470.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100
40I M0ZLAFL M X 540.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100
AC-ACK/LT - LATITUDE
AC YTOYTS 01NOV17
V FARE BASIS BK FARE TRAVEL-TICKET AP MINMAX RTG‡
41 B0ALT B X 594.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100‡
42 Y0ALT Y X 655.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100
43 Y Y X 1764.00 ---- - -/ - 1
AC-ACK/EF - BUSINESS FLEXIBLE
AC YTOYTS 01NOV17
V FARE BASIS BK FARE TRAVEL-TICKET AP MINMAX RTG
44 J J‡X 1964.00 ---- - -/ - 1
1* TRAVEL MUST BE NONSTOP OR DIRECT
100* 1. YTO-YTS
This is a Sabre fare display (with branded fares).
In the Tango section, starting at line 7, you now see G through M fares added (the A next to the line number indicates the fare was added in the past 24 hours). Similarly in the Flex section, lines 21-26 were added as A through S fares.
What has been done on this route at least is a fixed buy-up cost of $40 from Tango to Flex. In some cases, this is price increase. In others it is a decrease. Consider for example line 7 - G10WLATG at $176. Previously, that fare was G10WLAFL at $176, which has now increased by $40 to $216 at line 27 (the I next to the line number indicates the fare increased in the past 24 hours). However, prior to this change, if all fare classes had availability, your Tango A fare was $77 and your lowest Flex G fare was $176. Now, assuming the same availability, you would have your Tango A fare at $77 or your Flex A fare at $117. On the flip side, if G was the lowest available, you are now paying $40 more for Flex than you were before.
This structure will also allow AC to add fare families without realigning the fare classes.
Mileage accumulation on AC should be based on fare fare family. What is unclear is what will happen when miles are accrued to a different FFP, and what 'fare family' you are classified as when you book a codeshare (i.e. UA operated by AC).