This is the way it works on all airlines. In order to be on same PNR, all tickets must be the same fare. So if there is only one seat left in a bucket (doesn't matter which type of fare), and you are trying to book seats for two pax on the same PNR, it will force both pax in the next higher fare class where there are at least 2 seats.
With dual inventory check, there must be both I space open and something in Q/L/V/K buckets in order for one of the I fares to be bookable. Did you check those coach buckets as well? If there is nothing in those buckets, it will book in the cheapest S/B/M/H fare basis FC fares for which there is bucket availability and these book into the P booking class.
Originally Posted by
Aidan
Couldn't you just make the bookings separately, so you get one ticket at the lower price ?
It's worth noting that AS does seem to cache the I inventory for an unknown (brief?) period of time:
I needed 2 I seats on a connecting itinerary via SEA that has a 737 option with a 2.5 hour layover, or a 320 option with a 1 hour layover.
The 737 has been I4 for weeks and the 320 option has been I1 for the same amount of time.
Taking advice I believe I read on another thread, I booked the 320 as 1 pax and on another computer had the same availability pulled up. I finished record
#1 , switched computers, and was able to snag the 2nd seat I needed within 3-5 minutes.
After finishing the 2nd booking, I pulled up availability again and it had almost doubled in price from the I fare to the P fare, which was the only one available now.
Just a data point.