Originally Posted by
ExpertFlyer Voice
They aren't fares, they are fare classes with availability. AA may not want to sell an S ticket DCA-ORD on that flight but may need S class inventory if it's a connection with another flight. We describe this in our EduGuide and FAQ on the Help page on EF where just because there is fare class inventory doesn't mean there is/has to be a valid fare to use it.
Thanks for the clarification, this makes sense to me now. I guess google flights is probably the best way to check for the cheapest fare, instead of creating a fare alert.
Originally Posted by
RememberTheConcord
There’s a difference between there being space available in a “fare bucket” and there being an underlying “fare” for that bucket. For someone to sell you a ticket, you need both.
A “fare” is basically an offer from the airline saying “We’ll sell you a ticket right now for this much money if there is space in the S bucket for any flight between DCA and ORD on this date that meets some conditions.” You can then use the search you performed, the Flight Availability search, to see if there is actually S space available for you to take them up on that offer.
However, the availability of space on a plane and the availability of an offer to sell you a seat for a price if that space is available are two completely separate things. You can have either one without the other.
In this case, you did a flight availability search. It came back and said there is space in the S bucket. However, that is only half the question. To actually be sold a ticket, you also need a fare that uses that space. To look up what fares are available, you can use ExpertFlyer’s fare search. In this case, there doesn’t look to be a fare for this route, period, that uses S space. The lowest fare available uses L space. So, that’s what AA.com offers.
Thanks for the additional clarity, I'm on the same page now.
Originally Posted by
Globaliser
The problem may stem from the blogs, as is so often the case. Many of them seem to have adopted the terminology that if a flight is showing that it has (say) four S class seats available, then "there are four S fares on that flight". It sounds jargon-y, as if the blogger is in the know. However, if a blog says that, it's wrong - but then it's a blog, after all.
Agreed, my confusion stemmed from what I seemed to have understood from a couple blog sites.