NickB

You are right. Most OTAs, though, do offer BA HBO fares.
It is a "private" fare only in technical travel trade newspeak, not in the normal, everyday sense of the word.

hopeful_me

I was surprised to see that on its website AF still sells "PE" tickets to destinations in Asia out of TLV for dates after April 1, without making it clear that the TLV-CDG leg is in economy (I presume). Only when searching for direct TLV-CDG flights the system suggests Economy Flex as there is no PE. I understand there is little difference between PE and economy in mid-haul, and that the PE increased baggage allowance would apply to TLV-CDG when flying to Asia, but I would expect it to be explicitly stated during the booking process that some legs of a PE ticket aren't in PE.

orbitmic

Why is that surprising? CDg-tlv is not a long haul route for AF, and other airlines like BA, TK, AZ, NZ, QF, etc all advertise and sell W itineraries where the short haul or medium haul feeder flight is in Y. In fact even with BA which treats tlv as long haul they also sell you a tlv-lax in w where the first tlv-lhr segment is in economy on the A321 and on my iPad there is certainly no warning message.

hopeful_me

BA does have PE at least on some TLV-LHR flights. When it is not offered, they clearly state: "Your requested class is not operated on the above flight. The most appropriate alternative has been displayed", at least when booking on their website.

bennos

(deleted)

orbitmic

It doesn't show on the ipad but does indeed on the website (although only after you are selecting flights)! It is a nice warning although I find it deceptive too ("the most appropriate alternative")?

brunos

I find BA site quite explicit. They do have a very-visible red warning, even if the word "appropriate" refers to cost rather than comfort , and the flight in question clearly shows as economy, not premium economy.

The AF website does not have any warning. I tried some dummy bookings TLV-LAX-TLS in PE and it seems likes a mess. Usually the appellation PE remains for the TLV-CDG on A320, sometimes it becomes economy. But the appellation Economy Flex is given when booking a TLV-CDG as mentioned by hopeful_me. Another IT glitch, or rather a problem of updating a complex IT system.

In any case, AF will claim that Economy Flex subsitutes PE on European flight and that it is a different product from Y because of seating in first rows, sky priority and Go-show. Anyway PE Europe was a different product from PE longhaul. Hard to argue with them. But sad that they always make changes before being fully ready.

ajs123

So beginning April 1, 2015 premium economy on short haul gets discontinued. Just to be sure, does it mean that it will apply for all bookings made prior to that date?

I thought about booking a premium economy flight for my upcoming trip to New York in April that would include flights FRA-CDG and back. The company booking tool offers me A fares on all segments. With the new policy, I would sit in the main cabin on the feeder flights to/from CDG (already an disappointment ) But to add insult to injury, looking at the updated earning charts, it seems I would earn nothing for these short flights
http://www.flyingblue.com/earn-and-s...ir-france.html

Or am I missing something?

Goldorak

Yes. For tickets purchased before 28/01 for a trip from april 1st in medium-haul PE (booked in W, S or A), they have to be re-emitted in Eco Flex (booking fares : Y, B or M). Tickets purchased after 28/01 for trips from april 1st are booked directly in Y, B, M.

There is something strange in your story. For flights from April 1st, W, S and A fares are disappearing completely for medium-haul flights (they will still exist for long-haul PE). So it's not possible to book the CDG-FRA leg (or return) in A. This is why you don't see anymore A fare in the FB earning table for European flights from April 1st. All EcoFlex fares (Y, B, M) will earn 200% miles, as before for PE fares.

ajs123

Thank you for the clarification! The corporate booking tool that we use offered me a tariff code ALPRDE for the trip FRA-CDG-JFK and back. The system claimed that each segment is in A fare bucket, but strangely claimed that it is an economy, not a premium economy fare.

Oxymore

I have a ticket booked in A for the long haul segments, and still booked in W (and was auto-reissued in W a few days ago due to a schedule change) for the medium-haul segments.
My receipt shows W Premium Economy for the shorter legs, but of course it is displayed as Economy on AF's website. Am I entitled to a refund/downgrade compensation, given that it was sold to me as Premium Economy when I bought the tickets? (I suppose I am.) Has anyone contacted AF about this kind of issue?

iwillflytheworld

Looking to book a PE ticket that includes CDG-TLV-CDG segments. These are booked in W class, which is supposed not to exist anymore. Can I expect to get miles for these segments and if so at what rate?

irishguy28

I wouldn't consider it a downgrade. There was no separate PE cabin/seat on shorthaul. PE only ever existed in a "virtual" sense.

All that happens is that you will get fewer miles (presumably).

NickB

I disagree. This was marketed and sold as a different cabin and there was as much segregation between PE and Y as there is between C and Y. If anything, PE was C- rather than Y+. To me, it is very clearly a downgrade within the meaning of Reg 261/2004.

ticino

It may not be a proper downgrade but 1) you fly behind the Business curtain, 2) you get a sticky sandwich thrown at you and not a tray with proper food, 3) you have to pay for lounge access unless you are Gold or Platinum. Those are the differences I noticed.

Also, you will probably have to fight for your miles because at the moment, FBs systems seem to be programmed to give 0 miles.