Kier

Is there a list of all the fare basis codes for transatlantic flights and what fare class they are for? I have to book through an automated travel agent so cant always see if flights are "smart" or "saver"

mccartje

As per the website A,Z,W,T,O,R fare buckets are all lower/discounted fares earning 15 or 25 tier credits depending on if saver or smart. Anything other than those on a standard economy fare should be good for 50 tier credits. As far as if its booked into saver or smart I don't think you can tell from the fare code, but if you specify you need luggage included they'll have to book into at least smart I would think. Other than that not sure what else you are asking for.... (from personal experience G fare bucket tickets seem to be at the higher end price wise when economy is oversold or nearly oversold as I've been upgraded to business as a platinum at boarding each time I've had a G fare code, but this is only my personal opinion I don't know for sure).

Edited the above thanks to comments below.

DiegoTristan

mccartje

Yeah you're right rather rushed my answer before and skipped over the detail.

ROKNA

The website fare options and the fare basis codes are independent. EI's fares system has two levels, the classic IATA basis codes (Astral) and a product level (Datalex) so the fare class doesn't tell you much.

Smart Economy books into all fare classes except G and Y, but W/Z/A/T/O/R earn 25 and not 50 credits

Saver Economy earn 15 so while they may show a W/Z/A they are not the same, these should only be available on aerlingus.com (so not GDS available but available if the TA is setup to use the EI web TA service). They normally book into A, but on the same flight the smart fare will also book into A, so there is no way to tell the difference.

Its safe to say if the code is not W/Z/A its a smart fare, flex tends to book into G (or Y if you are unlucky)

After R the fares head roughly in the normal alphabet order until you hit business

P is promotional business
U is upgrade business
X is redemption

mccartje

Nicely summarised as per usual @ROKNA. I have had smart fares (as well as flex fares) book into G buckets however (pricey devils that they were).

uncleruckus

Is there a way to get non A,Z,W,T,O,R fares? I am trying to book another flight and would really like the full 50 tier credits instead of 25. I would gladly pay extra for this, but not the $600 extra to get a Flex or $1500 extra to get a Business fare. Doesn't seem possible on their website.

irishguy28

When you want a specific fare class, then you must pick up the telephone.

No guarantee they will be able to give you what you want, though!

uncleruckus

Interesting. I'll give that a shot and report back. Have you had success with that in the past? If so curious to hear what the fare difference was.

mccartje

You can contact EI direct to do this, as per website "Please note if you do not wish to avail of Sale or promotional fares and would like to purchase the standard fares which have a higher Tier Credit value and price, please contact our reservations team who will be happy to assist you in making your reservation....". Bit of a pain though. BA are good with this as you can select the fare buckets for TP awarding at time of booking.

ROKNA

You can call them for specific buckets

The TATL list in order (this follows for all flights)
J C I D P U
Y B H G K M V F N L E X Q S T O R W Z A

Aer Space is booked into a high economy bucket to avoid being flagged as business for corporate bookings
Plus fares book same bucket as Saver on EU flights, Advantage books in a higher class

uncleruckus

Thanks, all.

Kier

Thanks, this is exactly what im looking for.

ChurnieEls

Any idea on what bucket (a) bid to upgrade pulls from & (b) upgrading cash fares using Avios fall into?

I know U is straight up Avios inventory, but not sure if they above pull from there too (and indeed if that bucket refreshes up to departure - I believe that Avios based upgrades will clear so long as there is a seat).