Prospero

Pricing up some CE trips this evening - I see R is now being offered up on BA.com as the cheapest restricted business selling class on short haul. R fares are broadly comparable with the previous I fares.

TechnoOenology

Change from when R was Concorde...

(along with A, N, U)

clubman

Indeed R is the new I.

dunk

There is still an I bucket showing for the trips I've been looking at (e.g. AMS ex LHR, LGW and LCY in Sep), although this is probably for thru fares, e.g. AMS-JFK, etc.

OPebble

I have got CE flights over the next three months - all EU <> EU and they are all showing as I fares.

meeshi

xxxxx

OPebble

We are NOT talking about CW but CE!

frankvb

(ex-EU) Through fares (even booked in I) book into J for the short-haul connection. Indeed I now wonder why the I fare bucket is still there on short-haul flights, as far as I can tell no regular fare will book into it (but perhaps group or sale fares?).

dunk

Maybe this is a short-term thing and it's easier to leave the I bucket there for the time being. For the few LON-AMS flights I've looked at, I availability seems to track R precisely.

I can't see any adv purchase fares, even as far out as Oct & Nov.

Dave_C

The I -> R change seems to be right. I've just checked some LGW-SZG flights for february/march and a week ago, they were selling as I; now they are booking into R for the same price.

Callum_1

Effective for sales and travel from 20 August 2008, changes are being made to I class commercial fares and Domestic high yield fares as outlined below.

I to R class changes
British Airways will no longer be offering commercial fares in I class on all international Shorthaul point-to-point and transfer journeys. These fares will be changing to R class which is currently an unused class on shorthaul.

There will be no change in fare levels or conditions, this is purely a change in the booking class.

Passengers already ticketed in I class will not be re-accommodated, therefore any changes to tickets e.g. reissues/revalidation, will not be required.

Confirmed un-ticketed segments booked in I class will be proactively rebooked in to R class via an internal process. A message will be sent to the PNR originator informing them that the class has changed.

This change is applicable to all shorthaul routes with the exception of LGWTUN, LHRALG and LHRTIP, which remain unaffected by these changes.

Domestic High Yield changes
All intercontinental and shorthaul premium bookings connecting to a single cabin domestic sector, from 20 August 2008, should no longer be booked in C,D,I or R class and should be booked in J or Y. This change will not increase the through fare on these itineraries and has been made to ensure customers book the correct fares to entitle them to lounge access.

Irish lad

Same on Expertflyer for some random dates/places I put in. Wonder why they made the change?

edi-traveller

Well if they also applied this rule to any redemption bookings in J or F so that the Doms were also booked into J or Y it would create a Biz UK condition and no more arguing with lounge staff about being allowed in lounges on connections.

frankvb

And you would get TPs