Originally Posted by
TooTallForBasicEconomy
Edit: I think I follow what you are pointing out here now. Yes, the fare type (e.g. light / essential / flex) doesn’t give you a definitive answer but in my understanding type + fare code (e.g. Q vs V vs Y) does.
I think you are likely right - but you can't choose what fare code you book into, you can only choose Light/Essential/Flex and but not the specific fare code within that. So in actual practice when booking a ticket you can't necessarily choose from the above menu of options. It chooses for you.
For example for the $6850 TPE return that earns 50 points I mentioned above, with a >3 month stay in TPE, one is better off buying two one ways for just over half the price, but earning 30 points for the return trip. In both cases it's Economy Flex.
It's downright confusing that two one ways should be cheaper than a return ticket, but that's how CX pricing works!