Oct 2, 2017, 8:39 pm
Last edit by: canadiancow
What are Branded Fares?
Branded Fares (also called Fare Families) are the concept of airlines grouping fares together that share the same characteristics - for example, penalties (changes, refunds), baggage allowance, seat selection (none, paid, or free), mileage accrual, in-flight meals, priority airport services (boarding, check-in) etc.
Air Canada's Branded Fares: The Past
Air Canada has long utilised the concept of Branded Fares, primarily in its Economy Cabin. At present, there are three brands that people are familiar with: Tango, Flex, and Latitude.
In the past, AC has used other brands, including Tango Plus, Latitude Plus, Leisure, Tourist, and Relax & Return.
Until late September 2017, the fare brand was exclusively controlled by the 'booking class' (also called fare class, or the more technical term RBD - reservation booking designator) on each flight segment.
Air Canada's current Economy fare structure is: Y B M U H Q V W G S T L A K
Latitude is Y B
Flex was M U H Q V (W G for domestic and US flights)
Tango was (W G for international fights) S T L A K.
For example, if you were booking an itinerary within Canada or between Canada and the US, and wanted a Flex fare, all you needed to worry about was that each flight was booking in G or higher.
Air Canada's Branded Fares: The Present
On 19 September 2017 at its Investor Day, Air Canada announced that it will be utilising the concept of Branded Fares much more.
All Air Canada fares in all markets have been assigned a 'brand code' as follows:
- Basic: BA
- Standard: TG
- Flex: FL
- Comfort: CO
- Latitude: LT
- Premium Economy Lowest: PL
- Premium Economy Flexible: PF
- Business Class Lowest: EL
- Business Class Flexible: EF
For domestic and US transborder fares, the brand code will appear at the end of the fare basis code (i.e. V3WCTG, V3WCFL etc.). On international fares, while the fares are assigned the brand codes within reservation systems, they will generally not appear on the fare basis code.
For flights within Canada and between Canada and the US, booking classes M U H Q V W G S T L K G will now be used for both Standard and Flex fares, in three possible ways:
1. A distinct separation will remain (i.e. M U H Q V W G always as Flex, S T L K G always as Standard)
2. Some booking classes will overlap (i.e. M U H Q V W G as Flex, and V W G S T L K G as Standard - V W G overlap the two brands)
3. All booking classes are both Flex and Standard.
Air Canada may change how they file fares in a specific market at any point in time.
An example for Toronto to Timmins is included below, showing how Standard and Flex fares are available through all booking classes:
How do I make sure I'm booking the fare type I want?
If booking on Air Canada's website, choosing the fare type in the search results should give you a fare in that category, regardless of the booking class letter.
Otherwise, you will need to check the fare basis codes for all flights on your ticket to ensure they should the correct suffix (TG for Standard, FL for Flex).
If you book flights using a corporate booking tool such as Concur or GetThere, you may want to check with your travel administrator that the site is properly configured to display the branded fares according to brand code and not booking class.
What about milage accrual on Aeroplan?
The Aeroplan website has not yet been updated to reflect accrual, however you should expect to earn miles based on the fare type purchased (i.e. a domestic Flex K fare should earn 100% and a Standard M fare should earn 25%).
What about milage accrual on other programmes?
No data is currently available to support this, but in the absence of changes listed by the respective programme, the expectation is flights will continue to earn on those programmes based on the booking class letter.
What about milage accrual to Aeroplan when the flight is booked as a codeshare (i.e. UA*AC) and operated by Air Canada?
No data is currently available to know what happens. Codeshares map to specific booking class letters, not fares.
What about international fares?
There have currently been no changes to international fares. Branding of these fares still exists, but Air Canada has a lot less flexibility in filing fares in specific markets (for example, Transatlantic fares that are covered by the A++ Joint Venture).
How can my travel agent book branded fares?
AC has a guide here which describes how a TA can book TG or FL branded fares: https://www.aircanada.com/content/da...de_v1.0_EN.pdf
Air Canada's Branded Fares: The Future
On 19 September 2017 at its Investor Day, Air Canada also announced it may introduce a new "ULCC" fare brand below Tango to respond to markets in which it faces competition from Ultra Low Cost Carriers, as well as a "Comfort" brand between Flex and Latitude. Watch this space for future developments.
Branded Fares (also called Fare Families) are the concept of airlines grouping fares together that share the same characteristics - for example, penalties (changes, refunds), baggage allowance, seat selection (none, paid, or free), mileage accrual, in-flight meals, priority airport services (boarding, check-in) etc.
Air Canada's Branded Fares: The Past
Air Canada has long utilised the concept of Branded Fares, primarily in its Economy Cabin. At present, there are three brands that people are familiar with: Tango, Flex, and Latitude.
In the past, AC has used other brands, including Tango Plus, Latitude Plus, Leisure, Tourist, and Relax & Return.
Until late September 2017, the fare brand was exclusively controlled by the 'booking class' (also called fare class, or the more technical term RBD - reservation booking designator) on each flight segment.
Air Canada's current Economy fare structure is: Y B M U H Q V W G S T L A K
Latitude is Y B
Flex was M U H Q V (W G for domestic and US flights)
Tango was (W G for international fights) S T L A K.
For example, if you were booking an itinerary within Canada or between Canada and the US, and wanted a Flex fare, all you needed to worry about was that each flight was booking in G or higher.
Air Canada's Branded Fares: The Present
On 19 September 2017 at its Investor Day, Air Canada announced that it will be utilising the concept of Branded Fares much more.
All Air Canada fares in all markets have been assigned a 'brand code' as follows:
- Basic: BA
- Standard: TG
- Flex: FL
- Comfort: CO
- Latitude: LT
- Premium Economy Lowest: PL
- Premium Economy Flexible: PF
- Business Class Lowest: EL
- Business Class Flexible: EF
For domestic and US transborder fares, the brand code will appear at the end of the fare basis code (i.e. V3WCTG, V3WCFL etc.). On international fares, while the fares are assigned the brand codes within reservation systems, they will generally not appear on the fare basis code.
For flights within Canada and between Canada and the US, booking classes M U H Q V W G S T L K G will now be used for both Standard and Flex fares, in three possible ways:
1. A distinct separation will remain (i.e. M U H Q V W G always as Flex, S T L K G always as Standard)
2. Some booking classes will overlap (i.e. M U H Q V W G as Flex, and V W G S T L K G as Standard - V W G overlap the two brands)
3. All booking classes are both Flex and Standard.
Air Canada may change how they file fares in a specific market at any point in time.
An example for Toronto to Timmins is included below, showing how Standard and Flex fares are available through all booking classes:
Code:
YTO-YTS CXR-AC WED 01NOV17 CAD AC-ACK/TG - TANGO AC YTOYTS 01NOV17 V FARE BASIS BK FARE TRAVEL-TICKET AP MINMAX RTG 1 A21ZATG A X 77.00 R15DE T22SE 21/1 -/ - 100 2 L21ZATG L X 92.00 R15DE T22SE 21/1 -/ - 100 3 T14WLATG T X 123.00 ---- 14/1 -/ - 100 4 T14ZLATG T X 129.00 ---- 14/1 -/ - 100 5 S10WLATG S X 154.00 ---- 10/1 -/ - 100 6 S10ZLATG S X 159.00 ---- 10/1 -/ - 100 7A G10WLATG G X 176.00 ---- 10/1 -/ - 100 8A G10ZLATG G X 183.00 ---- 10/1 -/ - 100 9A G5ZLATG G X 209.00 ---- 5/1 -/ - 100 10A W7WLATG W X 228.00 ---- 7/1 -/ - 100‡ 11A W7ZLATG W X 234.00 ---- 7/1 -/ - 100‡ 12A G0ZLATG G X 239.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100 13A V3WLATG V X 276.00 ---- 3/1 -/ - 100 14A V3ZLATG V X 281.00 ---- 3/1 -/ - 100 15A V0WLATG V X 293.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100 16A V0ZLATG V X 303.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100 17A Q0ZLATG Q X 330.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100 18A H0ZLATG H X 389.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100 19A U0ZLATG U X 430.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100 20A M0ZLATG M X 500.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100 AC-ACK/FL - FLEX AC YTOYTS 01NOV17 V FARE BASIS BK FARE TRAVEL-TICKET AP MINMAX RTG 21A A21ZAFL A X 117.00 R15DE T22SE 21/1 -/ - 100 22A L21ZAFL L X 132.00 R15DE T22SE 21/1 -/ - 100 23A T14WLAFL T X 163.00 ---- 14/1 -/ - 100 24A T14ZLAFL T X 169.00 ---- 14/1 -/ - 100 25A S10WLAFL S X 194.00 ---- 10/1 -/ - 100‡ 26A S10ZLAFL S X 199.00 ---- 10/1 -/ - 100‡ 27I G10WLAFL G X 216.00 ---- 10/1 -/ - 100 28I G10ZLAFL G X 223.00 ---- 10/1 -/ - 100 29I G5ZLAFL G X 249.00 ---- 5/1 -/ - 100 30I W7WLAFL W X 268.00 ---- 7/1 -/ - 100 31I W7ZLAFL W X 274.00 ---- 7/1 -/ - 100 32I G0ZLAFL G X 279.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100 33I V3WLAFL V X 316.00 ---- 3/1 -/ - 100 34I V3ZLAFL V X 321.00 ---- 3/1 -/ - 100 35I V0WLAFL V X 333.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100 36I V0ZLAFL V X 343.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100 37I Q0ZLAFL Q X 370.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100 38I H0ZLAFL H X 429.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100 39I U0ZLAFL U X 470.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100 40I M0ZLAFL M X 540.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100 AC-ACK/LT - LATITUDE AC YTOYTS 01NOV17 V FARE BASIS BK FARE TRAVEL-TICKET AP MINMAX RTG‡ 41 B0ALT B X 594.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100‡ 42 Y0ALT Y X 655.00 ---- -/‡ -/ - 100 43 Y Y X 1764.00 ---- - -/ - 1 AC-ACK/EF - BUSINESS FLEXIBLE AC YTOYTS 01NOV17 V FARE BASIS BK FARE TRAVEL-TICKET AP MINMAX RTG 44 J J‡X 1964.00 ---- - -/ - 1 1* TRAVEL MUST BE NONSTOP OR DIRECT 100* 1. YTO-YTS
If booking on Air Canada's website, choosing the fare type in the search results should give you a fare in that category, regardless of the booking class letter.
Otherwise, you will need to check the fare basis codes for all flights on your ticket to ensure they should the correct suffix (TG for Standard, FL for Flex).
If you book flights using a corporate booking tool such as Concur or GetThere, you may want to check with your travel administrator that the site is properly configured to display the branded fares according to brand code and not booking class.
What about milage accrual on Aeroplan?
The Aeroplan website has not yet been updated to reflect accrual, however you should expect to earn miles based on the fare type purchased (i.e. a domestic Flex K fare should earn 100% and a Standard M fare should earn 25%).
What about milage accrual on other programmes?
No data is currently available to support this, but in the absence of changes listed by the respective programme, the expectation is flights will continue to earn on those programmes based on the booking class letter.
What about milage accrual to Aeroplan when the flight is booked as a codeshare (i.e. UA*AC) and operated by Air Canada?
No data is currently available to know what happens. Codeshares map to specific booking class letters, not fares.
What about international fares?
There have currently been no changes to international fares. Branding of these fares still exists, but Air Canada has a lot less flexibility in filing fares in specific markets (for example, Transatlantic fares that are covered by the A++ Joint Venture).
How can my travel agent book branded fares?
AC has a guide here which describes how a TA can book TG or FL branded fares: https://www.aircanada.com/content/da...de_v1.0_EN.pdf
Air Canada's Branded Fares: The Future
On 19 September 2017 at its Investor Day, Air Canada also announced it may introduce a new "ULCC" fare brand below Tango to respond to markets in which it faces competition from Ultra Low Cost Carriers, as well as a "Comfort" brand between Flex and Latitude. Watch this space for future developments.
Branded Fares; AC changes booking classes/fare classes for Tango & Flex
Jan 5, 2019, 1:11 pm
#481
Join Date: May 2015
Location: EXT, sometimes NYC/LON/YQT
Programs: Aeroplan, SPG/Marriott, Radisson Rewards
Posts: 774
Is this universally true though? Anecdotally (grain of salt, etc.), many of my direct (no connection) short-haul ACExpress routes sell Basic at the same price as before, or even higher.
Jan 5, 2019, 1:22 pm
#482
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: YVR
Programs: AC SE 2MM; UA MP Premier Silver; Marriott Bonvoy LT Titanium Elite; Radisson; Avis PC
Posts: 35,255
Universally? None of us have proof, but of all the routes (NA and international) I've looked and booked in 2018 once Branded Fares came into effect, were cheaper. There have been others here who have mentioned seeing similar on the routes they book.
Jan 5, 2019, 1:39 pm
#483
Join Date: May 2015
Location: EXT, sometimes NYC/LON/YQT
Programs: Aeroplan, SPG/Marriott, Radisson Rewards
Posts: 774
Which routes exactly, and what are you comparing?
Universally? None of us have proof, but of all the routes (NA and international) I've looked and booked in 2018 once Branded Fares came into effect, were cheaper. There have been others here who have mentioned seeing similar on the routes they book.
Universally? None of us have proof, but of all the routes (NA and international) I've looked and booked in 2018 once Branded Fares came into effect, were cheaper. There have been others here who have mentioned seeing similar on the routes they book.
Jan 5, 2019, 3:02 pm
#484
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: YAM, CIU, CGN
Programs: AC FOTSG, DL WM
Posts: 190
Moderator note: discussion continues in new thread - Adam Smith, AC Forum Moderator
Last edited by Adam Smith; Sep 25, 2022 at 9:17 am Reason: Add moderator note