This is a response mostly to claims made on the main thread for this fare.
Here are all the rules. So much unproven assertion put out on this Board by folks acting with authority, absolutely positive they are right and others are wrong even though they don't really have documentation to back up their claims. It's a chronic disease on flyertalk. In general, I would say that it's up to you whether or not you want to take advantage of the rules for this fare or pretend like it has more restrictions and penalties built into it than it actually does.
You will see that the verbage given to folks before purchase does not explicitly address some of the issues debated here. I would appreciate it if folks would find some written documentation from Northwest before asserting with authority they know exactly how these rules apply to changes / upgrades.
My tickets, and I think of most others, were clearly identified as being in "B" fare class both before and after purchase. If you can find some written documentation that adds some clarity to how to apply the rules below to changes / upgrades on these tickets that would be great. Unfortunately, it seems there is no consistency in what Northwest agents are telling folks about the rules for changes and upgrades on this fare (at least the claim is they have been told things contradictory to what Beaubo got documented on his record).
For example, I personally can't point anything in the BREE rules that were printed that is going to help me much in winning an argument about inbound flight changes (not that it supports that there can't be changes either, but NW is in the position of power), and it's hard to be persuasive just pointing to the usual interpretation of NW "B" fare rules if I don't have them in writing to quote to NW. Airlines should have to give customers ALL the rules on a ticket before purchase, apparently, somehow this hasn't ever happened though.
These are the fare rules, WORD FOR WORD, given to anyone who purchased this fare on NWA.com :
Fare Rule: BREE
Penalties
PENALTIES: NO RESTRICTION
Travel Restrictions
TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS: NO RESTRICTION
Blackout Dates
BLACKOUT DATES: NO RESTRICTION
Seasonality
SEASONALITY: NO RESTRICTION
Flight Applications
ORIGINATING AREA 1 - THE FARE COMPONENT MUST NOT BE ON ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING ANY HY FLIGHT.
Day/Time Application
DAY/TIME APPLICATION: NO RESTRICTION
Minimum Stay
RETURN TRAVEL FROM INBOUND TRANSATLANTIC SECTOR MUST COMMENCE NO EARLIER THAN 7 DAYS AFTER DEPARTURE OF THE OUTBOUND TRANSATLANTIC SECTOR.
Maximum Stay
RETURN TRAVEL FROM LAST STOPOVER MUST COMMENCE NO LATER THAN 6 MONTHS AFTER DEPARTURE FROM FARE ORIGIN.
Surcharges
ORIGINATING CANADA - A FUEL SURCHARGE OF CAD 71.00 PER DIRECTION WILL BE ADDED TO THE APPLICABLE FARE FOR DEPARTURE OF EACH TRANSATLANTIC SECTOR. NOTE - THE SURCHARGE SHALL BE DESIGNATED IN THE FARE LADDER AS /Q/. SURCHARGES PUBLISHED IN A CURRENCY OTHER THAN THE CURRENCY OF THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN WILL BE CONVERTED INTO NUC USING THE APPLICABLE IATA RATE OF EXCHANGE /IROE/. ------------ NO DISCOUNT WILL APPLY TO THIS SURCHARGE / HOWEVER THE SURCHARGE WILL NOT BE ASSESSED IN CONJUNCTION WITH FREE TICKETS.
Child Discount
ACCOMPANIED CHILD 2-11 - CHARGE 75 PERCENT OF THE FARE. TICKET DESIGNATOR - CH AND PERCENT OF DISCOUNT OR - INFANT UNDER 2 WITH A SEAT - CHARGE 75 PERCENT OF THE FARE. TICKET DESIGNATOR - IN AND PERCENT OF DISCOUNT OR - 1ST INFANT UNDER 2 WITHOUT A SEAT - CHARGE 10 PERCENT OF THE FARE. TICKET DESIGNATOR - IN AND PERCENT OF DISCOUNT OR - UNACCOMPANIED CHILD 5-11 - NO DISCOUNT.
Other Discount
NOTE - MILEAGE MAY BE EARNED BUT UPGRADING USING WORLDPERKS OR OTHER FREQUENT FLIER PROGRAMS IS NOT PERMITTED FOR FARES BOOKED IN M/H/Q/V/K.
Accompanied Travel
ACCOMPANIED TRAVEL: NO RESTRICTION
Eligibility
ELIGIBILITY: NO RESTRICTION
Advance Reservations/Ticketing Restrictions
RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED FOR THE FIRST SECTOR. WHEN RESERVATIONS ARE MADE AT LEAST 56 DAYS BEFORE DEPARTURE TICKETING MUST BE COMPLETED AT LEAST 42 DAYS BEFORE DEPARTURE. OR - RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED FOR THE FIRST SECTOR. WHEN RESERVATIONS ARE MADE AT LEAST 17 DAYS BEFORE DEPARTURE TICKETING MUST BE COMPLETED WITHIN 14 DAYS AFTER RESERVATIONS ARE MADE. OR - RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED FOR THE FIRST SECTOR. WHEN RESERVATIONS ARE MADE AT LEAST 10 DAYS BEFORE DEPARTURE TICKETING MUST BE COMPLETED WITHIN 7 DAYS AFTER RESERVATIONS ARE MADE. OR - RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED FOR THE FIRST SECTOR. WHEN RESERVATIONS ARE MADE AT LEAST 4 DAYS BEFORE DEPARTURE TICKETING MUST BE COMPLETED WITHIN 3 DAYS AFTER RESERVATIONS ARE MADE. OR - RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED FOR THE FIRST SECTOR. TICKETING MUST BE COMPLETED WITHIN 2 DAYS AFTER RESERVATIONS ARE MADE.
Combinability
DOUBLE OPEN JAWS NOT PERMITTED. ADD-ONS PERMITTED. END-ON-END COMBINATIONS PERMITTED. VALIDATE ADJACENT LINE OF FLIGHT FARE COMPONENTS ONLY. TRAVEL MUST BE VIA THE POINT OF COMBINATION. OPEN JAWS/ROUND TRIPS/CIRCLE TRIPS FARES MAY BE COMBINED ON A HALF ROUND TRIP BASIS -TO FORM SINGLE OPEN JAWS/ROUND TRIPS/CIRCLE TRIPS. OPEN JAWS/ROUND TRIPS/CIRCLE TRIPS NOTE - WHEN FARES ARE COMBINED THE MOST RESTRICTIVE CONDITIONS APPLY INCLUDING CANCELLATION AND REFUNDS. PROVIDED - COMBINATIONS ARE WITH ANY FARE OF THE SAME FARE TYPE FOR ANY CARRIER IN ANY RULE IN IPRA/IPRAI/IPRSAA2.
Transfers
TRANSFERS: NO RESTRICTION
Stopovers
2 STOPOVERS PERMITTED.
Sales Restrictions
TICKETS MAY BE ISSUED BY PTA. NOTE - IN E-TICKET ELIGIBLE MARKETS A SERVICE CHARGE WILL BE ASSESSED FOR THE ISSUANCE OF PAPER TICKETS.
Industry Fare Type
XEX - REGULAR EXCURSION