Inconsistent/Phantom Pricing for Partners on AS Website
 

Anyone struggling with phantom prices on some of AS partners for paid flights?
The week-long ribbon indicates prices that are substancially lower than what the website is able to pull in terms of itineraries. Sometimes the difference can be substancial i.e. a few hundred dollars. Any way to purchase what is displayed on the ribbon or is it a lost cause? Seems to be case with paid flights on Qatar for some estinations (such as BKK). Trying to get a lowest cost EQM run.
Minos

I'm seeing the same issue.

Not sure what you mean by ribbon? Do you mean this? The $357 price point showing below are JX fares. You aren't going to be able to get JX fares on QR coded flights which will necessarily involve QR fare filings. Fare filings and price points will often differ between partners. Cheapest QR fare filing applicable to date below look to be $611. You can get fare basis codes at checkout screen from fare rules. The $611 QR fare I see on SEA-BKK on this date would be a QR N Class fare and has a fare basis code of NLR5R1RE. You could try quoting on ITA Matrix which will give you both QR pricing and QR fare basis codes involved to see what it sees.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...0c06bcfff4.png

Yes this is the ribbon, Depends where you start in the US (ATL) but you can get QR flights and QR aircraft to BKK and the itinerary prices do not match what is advertised in the ribbon. Same for a couple of destinations such as Nairobi, Kigali, with no-one else besides QR appearing in the itineraries.

An example would be nice. I think I found an instance and it looks like the ribbon pricing is based on partner fares, but AS also has their own fare filings to BKK which it prefers to partner fares even when partner fares are cheaper (not too surprisingly). When the flights are AS codeshares, they are using AS fare filings, not partner fare filings. The initial flight listings confused me, as they only listed the QR flight numbers. However, once you add flights to cart, you can see they are actually AS codeshares and thus AS fare filings are involved. The $680 fare listed below in ribbon looks to be a QR fare, but they are only willing to sell outbound flights as AS coded flights with pricier AS fares. The $801 fare below is an AS N basis fare with fare basis code NLR5R1RE. The cheaper $680 option looks to be the QR Q basis QLUSP1RE fare which AS is not showing as an option on website. Since $1424.17 - $1303.71 = $120.46 and $801 - $680 = $121, it's pretty clear the $680 fare is the QR Q fare showing in ribbon listing (note that ITA base fare prices don't include taxes and carrier imposed fees which AS is including in it's ribbon fare prices).
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a42afec0b8.png

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...3cce3e61ae.png
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5caee60edb.png

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1c2b043603.png
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e008b52cf1.png

I was able to replicate pricing on ITA Matrix by forcing AS coding on outbound flights.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...175bca8d53.png
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...923210b141.png



This is what pricing would be with cheaper QR fare on outbound flights.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...11375fb660.png

I can't even see the JX fare of $357. The cheapest JX flight on that day in the flight list is $392

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ee3d4b5ff6.png

Sorry, this was a red herring. For clarification, I was doing a roundtrip search instead of one-way which is why you are seeing different pricing. See my followup post about AS favoring more expensive AS fare filings over cheaper partner fare filings. It's listing the cheaper partner fare filings in the ribbon fare listings, but it won't actually let you purchase those cheaper partner fares and is only allowing more expensive AS fare filings to be purchased on flights in some cases (where AS codeshares/fare filings are available on flights).

This is an annoying quirk that's been around for a few months. Take a look at NYC-DPS on July 31. Ribbon shows $1149, but the cheapest out of the 7 options is $1506.

Same deal. It's listing a QR fare as the cheapest, but it's only showing the more expensive AS codings and fare filings on QR flights for purchase on AS website. You can get the cheaper QR fares by booking through QR or third-party websites. Now you know why you earn more miles when booking on AS website :) The legacy big 3 websites will also often favor their own codings/fares on partner operated flights even though partner fares may be cheaper on same flights (and you must book the cheaper partner fares on their own websites or 3rd party booking sites).

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...2419f3c1e2.png

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e4961c8240.png

Thanks a bunch for the detailed explanation. It does make sense.
Is it legal with regards to DOT guidelines to advertise a fare and then prevent you from actually booking it?
Feels like it is misleading (and annoying because you have to search whether this is just a fluke - which it is not - or a systemic problem.

I find this super annoying. I have been seeing it for quite a while now. I travel to BKK several times a year with my partner and sometimes friends come visit us. We fly in J and mostly on points but I help friends buy their tickets. I have all but given up using AS as the ribbon fares are never available. For example, I helped a friend book RT last week for a Oct/Nov pairing. The ribbon showed $437 but in reality the lowest flight was $809 each way and get this, Starlux in Econ was $3K each way LOL. Went straight to Starlux and booked same RT for $909 from PDX to BKK. I no longer even bother with AS unless I am booking using points. I did a milage run early this year and booked directly through Singapore and put my AS number in. I booked the ticket last summer during a sale so got a great deal in J. 5 days in BKK with massages and great food and then back home. AS credited me all the miles in 3 days. Compared to last year where it took weeks to get SQ miles credited. If I were you I would just book directly through whichever airline gives you the best deal. Be mindful of the new partner milage charts though. I think discount E tix are 50%, PE are 100% and biz is 125% or slightly more. Good luck!

Discont Economy earns 25%
Economy earns 50%
PE earns 100%
J earns 125%
F earns 150%.

Eligible flight numbers followed by which fare class falls into which category by partner can be found here. If the fare class isn't listed, it is ineligible to earn.

I have seen this too with EI fares. When you go to the EI website the fare in the "ribbon" is EIs Basic Economy fare, which AS does not market or plate.

There are also some fares on AS that are cheaper than the partner fare. I have seen this particularly with JL.

James

Since they are only listing it as the lowest "potential" price and not showing it on any specific flight offerings, I doubt there is much DOT could do. If they quoted the cheaper QR fare on a specific set of flights, and then switched to a more expensive AS fare when you went to checkout, there would be a much stronger case.

This is by no means unique to AS and there's no DOT violation. Even if you put the ticket in the cart and it then increased at checkout, that would not be a violation. WN is notorious for this. What DOT forbids is a post-purchase price increase.

Ok understood. I thought there were rules saying that airlines and OTA businesses have to advertise the whole ticket price inclusive of taxes, fees, and fuel surcharges so that passengers can make an educated decision upfront. I feel that displaying the taxes properly but the airfare improperly (ie an unbookable QR airfare) violates the intent of these guidelines.