Fishwiz

I've spent some time on various sources of fare class information, but what puzzles me, is that that some of the fare classes in use seem to be redundant.

For example on an up coming trip a I have "I" on ATL-SCL, and "C" on the return of SCL-ATL. It looks like the MQM earnings is the same, and I can't find any other differences.

What are the differences? Where can that information be found? And if there are no differences, why does Delta use redundant fare classes?

danielvdm

Not an expert by any means, but I think it's generally used for "fare buckets" in which each might have 9 tickets available at certain prices. A flight could have J9, I9, C9, Z9 and once all Z fares are sold (at the same price) they sell the next fare at a higher price. That's why C and I tickets have same earnings but their difference would be price - based on the other being sold out.

ekozie

As a flyer, there is no functional difference in I and C classes. On the flipside, from the airline/industry/GDS perspective, each fare bucket for each flight and each route contains a multitude of published fares, which have different rules, prices, surcharges, validities, etc. Having the many, many fares that are published for each possible flight/route stratified into buckets (i.e., classes) makes identifying fares according to the hierarchies of price and restrictions slightly easier. Classes are also relevant to flyers in certain circumstances, such as SDC on a domestic coach ticket.

xliioper

If you are asking what various fares earn, the table for Delta flights can be found here -- https://www.delta.com/us/en/skymiles...arn-with-delta

There are five fare classes for business/first flights J, C, D, I, and Z which is generally the order from most costly to cheapest (although there can be overlap). Only J class is considered full fare and earns 200% MQM's. The others earn 150% MQM. There's no class of service bonus for mileage earn. There are typically multiple fare filings for each fare class (although the higher fare classes are the least restrictive and may only have 1 or 2). The lower ones tend to have different restrictions such as advance purchase requirements (cheaper fares generally require they be purchased further in advance) or a roundtrip booking requirement with a Saturday night stay (this is typical of the cheaper Z fares) . The specific fares you purchased are identified by an 8-character fare basis code which can found in the Fare Details: line in the email receipts. You can see all the fares filed on a route with an account on expertflyer.com.

MSPeconomist

I would disagree with this example. While C isn't unrestricted last seat availability, it's generally in most markets a fully flexible and fully refundable without penalty business class fare, unlike the D I Z fares that generally have change fees (typically ranging up to about $500 for TATL/TPAC RTs exUSA, but this depends on the market) and generally aren't refundable (as a credit to the original means of payment).

Moreover, some I fares have advanced purchase and minimum stay requirements while C fares generally do not.

Fishwiz

This makes sense... Thanks all

EBiafore99

Here is a link to all of DL's fare classes. Pretty good explanation on them.

https://cwsi.net/delta.htm

MSPeconomist

This is way out of date. DL hasn't offered Business Elite in a very long time.

EBiafore99

I am not sure it's so out of date...they may have just not changed the name to D1 yet. It has the Premium Select fare code(s) in there.

rucksack

It is rather out of date. S is now a Comfort+ fare (along with W). Delta no longer users P/A/G for first class since they switched to business class fare codes (J/C/D/I/Z) for all domestic first products. P/A/G are now exclusively aligned to Premium Economy fares.

ijgordon

Well I would be cautious about any generalization regarding what rules might typically apply to a specific booking code. For example, I see two "I" fares on JFK-LHR for travel 1-Mar-20 through 7-Mar 20, and both are fully refundable. I see at least one C fare for travel in June that has a change/cancel fee of $450/500. And I even see a J fare with the same penalties. It's really the specific fare rules that determine the restriction, there's nothing inherent in the booking code/fare class, and things can change all the time. Bottom line, the only reason a flyer really cares about the booking code is for mileage earnings, and as mentioned, for DL-marketed business class it's all the same except J earns 2x MQMs. For partners there could be more nuances & differentiation for MQMs and MQDs.