Originally Posted by
anabolism
Isn't that what I said? I specifically talked about fare rules, fare applicability criteria, etc. If I gave the impression that EF does what Matrix does, that was an error and I apologize.
I think that when you said the following, it could be misleading:
Originally Posted by
anabolism
The Fare Information query, by default, shows fares available between the cities you specify on the dates you specify. Note that it only shows the base fares, not the fares with airline-imposed surcharges and government taxes and fees. By default, it only shows fares for which there is also availability on flights on your dates. Since the fares shown by default are available and have corresponding flights available, you should be able to book those flights and get that fare through an airline or online travel agency.
The Fare Information results will show all fares regardless of whether there is availability on the flights, so that you may very well not be able to book a fare that you see listed - as
ExpertFlyer Voice says.
But you are right that being able to see the rules of fares that you
can't book on your first choice dates is very useful to guide you to possible tweaks to your itinerary so as to be able to get that fare. And ditto using availability information to identify the dates/flights on which a better fare might work.