Originally Posted by
Often1
Theoretically, but to no value.
Consumers are price-sensitive, not fare basis-sensitive, e.g., the question is whether one will pay $X for the ticket in question. Whether that $X is for a J, D, or I fare is immaterial to the consumer. To AA, those are simply data points to help manage inventory.
Put the other way around, if you are prepared to pay $1,000 for the ticket and it shows up as J, D, I, or for that matter QQ, does it matter to you?
It can matter for mileage earning, upgrade co-pays, etc. But the point was that AA could do finer-grained inventory management -- J, D, and I availability gives them 3 variables to optimize, whereas if they take I out of the equation most days, they only have 2.
And it's interesting that the issue raised by OP was not "I can't find a low enough $ ticket" but "I can't find an I fare", so at least in this case the consumer was fare basis-sensitive.