Please Describe
 

Hi,

Ive been doing a bit of reading lately and was trying to look for fares from Lexington(LEX) to Fort Lauderale (FLL) on Sept 3rd(friday) and return Sept 12 Evening or September 13th Morning. I have a Silver Elite status on NW and was looking to gather as many miles as possible during this trip.

I tried looking into the fare codes available and from what I could understand, I found the following using Expedia (which would suit my days of travel)
1) VB14ENR
2) VE14W2N
3) Q14R50VN
4) QB30X7MN

I noted down a few points from the fare codes that i could not understand. Lets take the example of VB14ENR.
1) Saturday stay required; Fare effective 21-Jul-04 to 10-Mar-05; (fare code VB14ENR) more rules...
DAY/TIME - TO FLORIDA THU THRU SAT ALL DAY
FROM FLORIDA SAT THRU MON ALL DAY
TRANSFERS - 8 ONLINE PERMITTED OUTBOUND 4 INBOUND 4
SALES RESTR - TKT BY MAIL PTA MECH PTA-TKT
PERMITTED TKT BY SELF NOT PERMITTED
EXTENSION OF TICKET VALIDITY PERMITTED UNDER
GUIDELINES SET FORTH BY CARRIER. CONTACT
CARRIER FOR DETAILS.
ROUTING 210 FROM-TO LEX-NW-MEM/HOU/DFW-NW-FLL*
FROM-TO LEX-NW-CLE/DTT-NW-HOU/MEM-NW-FLL*
FROM-TO LEX-NW-DTT/EWR/CLE/CVG-NW-FLL*

****CHECK COMPANION FARES****R
LEXFLL-NW 24JUL04 *RULE DISPLAY* TARIFF 0011 RULE 4035
-FARE BASIS USD TAX TOTAL PTC FT
VB14ENR R 256.74 19.26 276.00 ADT EX
VB14ENR/IN00 R 0.00 0.00 0.00 INF EX
VB14ENR/INF50 R 128.37 9.63 138.00 INS EX
BOOKING CODES V VN


Now thats badly displayed. Sorry for that.
1) could anyone please describe what the "sales restr" means.
2) How can I book this ticket? Can I book it by calling NWA reservations?
3) What would be the best mileage run for this?
4) What does the pricing indicate.
5) What are the booking codes?
6) What do they mean by check companion fares.
7) Any other suggestions.

Thanks. Any help would really be great.

- MKA

For your purposes, don't worry about questions 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7.

The answer to question 2 is since that it's a published fare, you can book it anywhere you want to.

The answer to question 3 is that the routing of LEX-CLE/DTW-IAH-FLL will give you the most miles (the difference in miles between CLE-IAH and DTW-IAH is essentially irrelevant), but that if you're looking primarily for EQM's LEX-DTW-MEM-FLL will probably be better, since the IAH-FLL segment will be CO operated.

LEX-DTW-IAH-FLL will earn more NW EQMs than LEX-DTW-MEM-FLL if the DTW-IAH is operated by NW (and IAH-FLL operated by CO).

1) SALES RESTR is Sales Restriction. Basically, it's saying that this fare can be issued using ticket by mail or by PTA (Prepaid Ticket Advice). There's little relevance here.
3) LEX-DTW-IAH-FLL will earn you the most miles, and the most NW EQMs if DTW-IAH is operated by NW.
4) The pricing listed is the fare listed in the form of base fare, US transportation tax, and the total after this tax (but does not include other fees/taxes which are dependent on routing). It also lists the fare types (infant in lap or infant in seat fares).
5) The booking code says that this fare needs to be booked in V class

Thanks UpgradeMe and keithguy! Lets see what I can find!

LEX is bad - Too High airfares from here to anywhere!!! :D

- MKA

Note that although LEX-(NW)-DTW-(NW)-IAH-(CO)-FLL earns the most EQMs, you'll have to switch terminals in IAH, which I'm pretty sure also means re-clearing security. So make sure and schedule a not-too-tight layover there.

It does not.

I stand corrected.

So the "terminal link" is airside? I guess I need to try connecting via IAH some time (it's usually a destination for me).

Terminal change in IAH
 

Would 1 Hour 15 Minutes be enough for the terminal change (provided the flight in from Detroit makes it on time)

What happens if I miss a connecting flight due to this? Any compensations? Next flight?

Thanks
- MKA

1:15 is plenty of time in IAH... They have these slow trains that take you from one terminal to the other, but it should take no more than 15 minutes.

Yes, the 'TerminaLink' is within security, connecting terminal B to Terminal C/D/E. Note however, that this is NOT the underground train that links all the terminals, which IS outside of the security.