dspringer28

A fares are the best thing DL has done in a long time. Such a good price for paid F and no worrying about upgrades. DL has done a lot of stupid things lately, but I have to give them kudos for this, their first real "enhancement"! Way to go DL!

findmeinfirst

I fares are pretty darn nice too!

Canarsie

...as are D fares.

JS

Speaking of A versus D -- all the discount First Class fares I've seen are applicable to A or D. Anyone find different fares?

RunawayNFly

If you live in Florida and don't fly a competitive route, these guaranteed FC upgrade fares are cost prohibitive!

magic12

How do you find the A fares? I have looked on the Delta web site and can't seem to find any. Any flights out of SAN.....

ConnFlyer

The A fares are primarily a competitive response to Airtran because Airtran offers a reasonably priced business class. Since Airtran does not serve SAN, finding a cheap A fare will likely be very hard.

BertBamboo

ConnFlyer is correct. Look at the Airtran route map. That will give you a good starting point for finding Delta's A fares. If you are not primarily flying out of ATL, it probably won't work for you.

atl runner

That is correct. A Fares are mainly offered where DAL is meeting a similar fare offered by a competitor, chiefly Air Tran. For instance you can get great A Fares between ATL and LAX or ATL and SFO because Air Tran is in those markets. They have had, however, a great A Fare between ATL and HNL where Air Tran doesn't fly. If an A Fare is available, you won't have to "find it." When you go to book first class on delta.com, if it's available, it will be your first option listed. DAL's website always lists fares from cheapest to most expensive unless you request otherwise.

And I agree that A Fares are great. My wife (a PM) and I have booked a number of them. If DAL were smart they might try offering them in more markets. In a different thread it was discussed how only 6% of FC seats are actually purchased (a figure provided by our esteemed FT owner, Randy Petersen). A Fares would likely up that number. A lot of us buying A Fares are paying more for those than we would otherwise be paying for, let's say, HQK type fares, meaning more revenue for DAL. And, most of us aren't going to pay 3 or 4 times an A Fare for a "full-fare" FC ticket. So, I would think it's a winner for both. The customer gets a FC seat and doesn't have to hassle with upgrading and DAL makes more money (and also doesn't have as much hassle with managing upgrades).

And I also agree with an earlier comment that the same rationale applies to BC (I) fares.

Canarsie

There are two points that I would like to clarify:

• One does not have to search First Class fares at www.delta.com to find A or D fares. All one has to do is choose the Coach (Flexible) option and, if the A or D fares are available, they will be immediately available for purchase. This is an easier option because instead of selecting individual flights (as one has to do with the Business and First Class options), the complete round-trip can be selected as usual.
• A and D fares are upgrades, not actual purchases of Business or First Class. The difference is that these upgrades are automatic when available on select routes.

LAOCA

This I believe to be incorrect. Certainly for D fares it is. They are treated like F and C as far as MQM accrual. As far as availability, A or D must have free inventory on the flight you are going on.

However, there are the Y*DLUP fares (Y can be substituted for other economy inventories) that are upgrades, not purchased premium cabin. When buying those fares you are subject to either V or G availability and accrues MQM's equivalent to the inventory purchased.

Regarding the SAN question posed: Yes, there are A and D fares out of SAN in certain markets. However, they are not the super cheap A fares associated with AirTran routes. SAN also has a number of **DLUP** fares.

Delta appears to be still taking a match by market approach in pricing. Recently, United has started a very agressive price/availability strategy and for the first time I'm seeing extremely agressive fares even in markets not served by LCCs.

Canarsie

You are correct in this aspect, LAOCA. This differentiates the A and D fares from traditional upgrades.

My most recent post in this thread is based on the following information from my own personal experience in the LAX-ATL "D" Fare $614.00.???? thread:

Perhaps I am wrong, but I interpreted QDLUPTN as an upgrade fare code.

atl runner

A Fares are not upgrades but actual FC fares, at least from a functional point of view. You get double MQMs and if you do try to book directly in FC on delta.com you get the FC (A) option if it is available on that itinerary. And on a couple of flights we had booked in A, the fare dropped, I called SMS and they just refunded us the difference. It is correct (at least between ATL and SFO) that if you try to book a flexible coach fare it shunts you into the FC (A) fare, but you also get the same fare going straight to FC.

[This message has been edited by atl runner (edited Mar 05, 2004).]

[This message has been edited by atl runner (edited Mar 05, 2004).]

mauld

Aside from domestic routes, anyone know of A/D fares available on international ones.
(i.e. on CO, Z fares can be found in the mid 2000 range for FCO, MXP, AMS, MAD etc-- from NYC).

atl runner

Look for Business Elite (BE) fares in "I" Class. It is a discounted business fare available in some markets from the US on international flights. Although you get the double MQMs, any changes you make involve a change fee, which I've seen on fare codes at $300. Still, if you know when you're going, I've seen these I fares around $2000.00 to $2500.