Originally Posted by
Eastbay1K
Not always true. It depends how the routing prices, and sometimes a ticket will price as an O/D including connections, and other times, as segments. I don't have any examples readily available, but you can be pretty sure that when, i.e., SFO/HNL is $400, and SFO/SEA/HNL is $600 (all in the same seat bucket), that the fare construction will be split by segment.
I have flown "through" SEA many many times, but never as a destination from YLW/YVR. Through fares are very prevalent on Canadian departures. Here is an example of AS fares from YVR-LAS November 18th. Let's look at the components of the journey. YVR-SEA, SEA-LAS & then YVR-LAS.
The Saver fare is $131, Main +$25, $145
Saver fare is $89, Main +$30, $119
Saver fare is $157, Main +$24, $181.
Why is YVR-LAS cheaper than YVR-SEA & SEA-LAS separately? Competition! AC on the same date is $128 for a non-stop.
AA, being the only other
oneworld carrier serving transborder, also flies from YVR to LAX/DFW/ORD. Interestingly, AA does not market BE fares from/to Canada, at least in the many searches I have done, so their competitive pricing is in Main cabin. Flying AA YVR-LAS with a connection through LAX or DFW starts at $129. That is competing with AC, on price. The less restrictive Main cabin fares hopefully offsetting ACs non-stop benefit, but with restrictions.
The AA Main cabin fare class is O, a 25% EQM earner. But! Any, AA flight credited to Mileage Plan will always earn the 500 EQM minimum for any
member. A two-segment AA itinerary will earn 1,000 EQM. YVR-SEA-LAS on AS would earn 500 + 868 = 1368, only if you purchased the AS itinerary in Main, $52 more than the AA fare. AA $129, 1000 EQM, AS $181, 1368 EQM. 368 EQM for $52. Hmmm.
It is also a classic example of how poor earnings are in AAdvantage when flying towards AA status. The base fare of the $129 itinerary is $55. The rest is fees & taxes. An AAdvantage member, Gold, Platinum, Platinum Pro & Executive Platinum would earn 275, 385, 440, 495 & 605 Loyalt Points.
If status is the metric for attaining LP or EQM, a Mileage Plan member would earn 1% of 100K (5% of MVP) while an AA member would earn 0.1375% of EXP (0.6875% of Gold)
Through fares are definitely O/D. I don't know how AA would apportion the fare if one segment was AS marketed but an AA operated flight or if AS even has through fares with AS codeshares, but I would guess the relative distance of each segment would be the method used.
James