Originally Posted by
findark
There are two situations where it is now expected to have a confirmed segment in B class which didn't exist when the elite benefit of "instant upgrades on Y/B (and M) fares" was designed:
Delegated Premium Economy fares with a primary rbd of O/A/R on UA generally book into B class on flights without a Premium Economy cabin. The main reason for this is because B class segments grant free Economy Plus access, and United wanted to permit this for such segments. Partner PE fares have historically also delegated to Y, B, or M classes as well, although this predates Economy Plus access being a benefit of B fares and also predates UA having a PE cabin. Note that Business fares almost always delegate to Y class, and do not then receive E+ access on, for example, one-class United flights.
Economy Plus fares, which are published systemwide (or near-to) domestically as a differential fare to regular Economy and a primary rbd of B. These fares have an 'I' in seventh position (which usually identifies the differential type of a domestic fare), and are sold specifically to "bundle" Economy Plus access as part of the coupon value itself. So far, United has not marketed them, but searching for B class on a domestic route should yield this as the cheapest fare which confirms in B class.
UA has also begun inventory controlling B class based on assigned E+ seats.
It is not known if either, both, or neither of the above fare types are intended to receive Instant Upgrade benefits - the general bugginess of the system makes it difficult to gather data.
Originally Posted by
jsloan
Anecdotally, they appear to be creeping in internationally as well. There's less of a benefit for a Premier to booking long-haul B fares, since the instant upgrade does not apply on long-haul routes, but it would still move somebody up near the top within their status level within the Economy cabin. It might also be the cheapest way to reduce a flight to 40 PlusPoints for upgrades instead of 80.
My hypothesis is that the reports we've seen have been tied to the YBM upgrade not working properly and/or PN (or PZ, for non-1K) space not being available. I don't think UA's IT is capable of doing anything beyond looking at the inventory class to make these determinations.
So in summary, a "fake" B fare is anything that doesn't have a basis code starting with B, but it's only internet speculation as to whether that matters for YBM upgrades.
On the mechanics of delegating Business fares —
Originally Posted by
findark
(...)
Delegated Premium Economy fares with a primary rbd of O/A/R on UA generally book into B class on flights without a Premium Economy cabin. The main reason for this is because B class segments grant free Economy Plus access, and United wanted to permit this for such segments. Partner PE fares have historically also delegated to Y, B, or M classes as well, although this predates Economy Plus access being a benefit of B fares and also predates UA having a PE cabin. Note that Business fares almost always delegate to Y class, and do not then receive E+ access on, for example, one-class United flights.
(...)
— I am not sure I'd say "almost always". In my experience, I've mostly seen them delegate to B and affirmatively include no-fee E+ seating. These have been largely, or maybe exclusively, P and Z fares; I'm unsure if that means anything.