MGR

With I-class fares you have to book 50 days in advance of departure date (which is why they may not show up if you book, say, for next month). You do get full business class Medallion credit, however--50% mileage bonus+ 200% MQM.

I was using the I class all last year for BOS-MXP on Alitalia but Delta has now banned DL codeshares on AZ with I fares... You know, Alitalia has to reserve business class for friends, oh, sorry, I mean paying business class customers.

atl runner

Incorrect. "I" fares get the full double MQMs--they are discounted BE fares but nevertheless are BE fares, not the same as YBM coach fares. The difference between the "I" and "J" fares is that the former have a $300 chage fee associated with them, but if your dates are firm, they can be a good deal.

They are often available from ATL to the European destinations that DAL flies in and out of. I'm pretty sure they are best found if you book well in advance of the flight--you won't find them last minute.

runningshoes

CO announced a Biz class fare sale about 2 weeks ago, and I think that DL actually started theirs after (in response?) the CO announcement.

Dovster

You might want to look into booking an Alitalia itinerary. I don't know how they are from the States, but TLV-MXP-USA or TLV-FCO-USA on an Alitalia ticket then on a Delta ticket.

In February I could have gotten Alitalia Business Class to New York, Chicago, or Miami for $1600 r/t!

DONINTATL

Delta's "I" fares are pretty much systemwide to most if not all of Delta's Online Transatlantic Destinations. As the previous poster stated there is a 50 Advance Purchase and the fares have several other restrictions. They usually range from $1900 - $2300. These fares currently have a last ticket date. Most airlines have matched Delta's "I" fare initiative.

Delta's Online Transatlantic Destinations: AMS, ATH, BCN, BOM, BRU, CDG, A, DUB, FCO, FRA, IST, LGW, MAD, MAN, MUC, MXP, NCE, SNN, STR, SVO, VCE, ZRH.

hfly

Some I fares offered from Europe have no minimum advanced purchase requirements.

sammy343

Are there any special restrictions besides the 50 day advance and 7 day stay for "I" fares to NRT? I was looking at dates in September on the Availability Tool and they show 7 "I" seats on the chart, but when I go to Delta.com to book the "J" fare is the only one I can get to show up. Is this something I need to call for reservations for to have them look for?

Has anyone ever seen or successfully gotten an "I" fare from anywhere in the US to NRT? What was the approximate fare?

dspringer28

I saw an awsome I fare the other day- AUS-LGW-AUS $1655 RT. Now it's not there anymore

DONINTATL

First Off, ATLNRT is not a DL transatlantic market - it is transpacific. According to my knowledge the "I" fares still exist. Make sure you itinerary has a 7D Min / 30 D Max - 50 D AP. If it does and it still doesn't price then either there are no "I" seats or no "I" fares in that market. Tickets Must Be Purchased By 27May. Any I fares from Europe to the US may have different ticketing restrictions. The ones for U.S. originating traffic have a 50 D A.P.

Firstmate

As I recall this "I" fare was a special"Excursion Fare" promotion which had to be booked and ticketed sometime ago, for travel this year. It was a special rate, in the $2,000 range for International B/E travel to specified European gateways. It did not include all destinations flown by DL. Also, it required a minimum of 7 night stay and one was rewarded with MQM's computed at 2x's instead of the standard 1.5x's for M/B fare. I think when I checked on and booked mine, it was about $250 more for this than the regular quoted M/B fare. Also, there was a $300 change fee.

atl runner

DAL still has "I" fares from ATL to Europe, even for travel into 2005 (I just checked). These fares range, depending on the city, from $2000 to $2200 for several cities that I checked (LGW, AMS, CDG, etc.). There is a change fee of $300 associated with these fares and they do get double MQMs. DAL is very smart in offering "I" fares. They are getting many of us to pay a few hundred dollars more by buying these rather than booking YBM upgradeable fares and then using PMUs or miles to upgrade. I view this as a win-win situation. I wouldn't pay the type of prices they want for "J" fares and I'd guess they don't sell anywhere near a whole BE cabin's worth of "J" fares on almost every flight over "The Big Pond." That being the case, why not sell "I" fares for $2000+, instead of YBM fares for $1200 to $1800. From my perspective (the customer), I'll pay that difference to get the flights I want and the double MQMs and for not having to play the "upgrade" game. So bottom line, DAL makes more money and customers like me get a perceived benefit. I hope someone at DAL is monitoring this forum and that they don't screw up this type of fare.

And the same applies to domestic FC (A) fares, although I know they only offer them because of competition from Air Tran and others (meaning they should offer them anyway for the same reasons stated above in regard to "I" fares).

DAL's problems aren't just the revenues they bring in, it's their cost structure. The old revenue model is history. Leo, the bean counter with an understanding of people equivalent to a pet rock, saw the revenue side as the problem and tried to take it out of/on the customers. Where revenue becomes a problem is in driving away many good customers. We know how effective that was/is. Unless they get their costs under control, and attract and keep good paying customers, they and those of us who fly them are out of luck. I think the current management understands that--I sure hope so.

runningshoes

Since DL cut back on the number of flights to Japan, I've never seen an "I" fare on the NRT routes, and that's a route either I or someone else from the company is on a few times a year. My guess is that it's packed the whole year and there is no reason to discount to "I".

NYBanker

Just because you see an I seat available on Galileo (or other service), it doesn't mean DL is offering I fares for the routing of that particular flight - it might only be available when purchased as part of a thru-trip. For example, you might be able to do I on CVG-JFK-CDG, but you might not be able to do I on CVG-JFK only (even if it shows I7 on the website).

atl runner

I know this comment wasn't in response to my post directly, but the "I" fares I was quoting a couple of posts above were from DAL's reservation page on their website and could have actually been purcahsed with an extra click or two of my "rodent."

sammy343

Thanks guys. I really don't play with the Galileo tool very much, and I just noticed that some days they had what looked like I fares available, but I could never get them up on Delta.com. I am looking for an easier way to NRT this summer and doubt that an M fare with miles will get me in BE.