A few years back, AS expanded to 15 different booking classes (shown above) in an attempt to offer a better mix of fares across all the markets it serves, as well as having more capacity controls in First Class to better track and allocate the number of seats available for upgrades.

As part of the fare simplification, AAG is working on going to just six "structural" fares - as I understand it, First, Coach, Discounted coach, and then the deeply discounted roundtrip excursion fares - 7, 14 and 21 day advance.

Another part of the simplification included eliminating rules like the Saturday night stay, restricting travel to certain days of the week, time of day, etc.

Of course when a competitor whips out some random off-the-wall fare that requires travel on Tuesdays while wearing a red tie and a green sock or whatever, AS occasionally matches them - tossing that same random fare into the mix with the others.

But the number of fares offered really isn't so much a function of the booking classes and the number of them AS offers.