ITA Software Fare Construction
 

Just noticed that itasoftware.com now displays Fare construction details as follows:

Fare construction (sometimes useful to travel agents):
LON MX X/CHI MX MEX 445.42WHAP1MGB MX X/CHI MX LON 445.42WHAP1MGB NUC 890.84 END ROE 0.518602 FARE GBP 462.00 EQU CAD 995.00 XT 86.10GB 30.80UB 12.00YC 15.20XY 10.80XA 5.40AY 23.40UK 25.80XD 130.20YQ 0.90YR 4.90XF ORD4.50

interessting...

is there a sticky or source anywhere that would help this beginner decipher those codes? :confused:

That would be fantastic. It's a lot of work to get up to speed.

Essentially, you do not need to understand the details of the fare calculation line to understand the basic workings of fares, why things generally price as they do and how to find and construct excellent MRs. Every ticket you have ever bought has such a calculation but these days the site you buy from does the calculation for you automatically. When you purchase a ticket over the phone, generally the agents' computer does the calculation for them. However, on very complex tickets, to get the lower applicable price, this calculation sometimes needs to be done manually. Calling a an airline reservations line, they would put in a request for their tariffs desk to do the calculation if their computer is not pricing the fare combination that you want. These can get very complex and way beyond me and most airline agents.

The fare line includes all fares being used and all applicable taxes and surcharges being added to come to a total fare. This ITA readout would be helpful to travel agents because it tells them how ITA is calculating the fare you are seeing.

When traveling from A to B via C and D, the fare basic could be A-D, A-C & C-D, A-B & B-D, OR A-B & B-C & C-D. The fare calculator is supposed to choose the lowest one but sometime ITA does a better job of choosing the lowest combination than a third party's computer chooses. So a travel agent can manually make it price with the right combination.

Take this round trip from London to Mexico City that prices for $1575.10:
LON = London
MX = Carrier, Mexicana
X/ = transit; not stopover
CHI = Chicago
MX = Carrier, Mexicana again
MEX = Mexico City
608.36 = $608.36 fare to get from London to Mexico City
HKPX6MGB = fare basis (you would see multiple of these if this was not pricing as a through fare)
MX X/CHI MX LON 608.36HKPX6MGB = same thing as above, but going the other way now
NUC 1216.72 = NUC is the basic fare unit. It is the abbreviation for Neutral Unit of Construction. It is a fictitious currency equivalent in value to the United States Dollar (USD). An industry-wide term that carriers and governments use for fare construction purposes and air fare calculations. $1216.72 is the round trip fare
ROE 0.518602 = Rate of currency exchange
FARE GBP 631.00 = GB pounds fare
EQU USD 1252.00 = Equivalent USD amount
XT 11.00YC 14.00XY 10.00XA 5.00AY 79.40GB 28.40UB 21.60UK 23.80XD 120.00YQ 0.90YR 9.00XF ORD4.50 ORD4.50 = The many different surcharges and taxes applicable to a ticket. YC, XY, AY, etc each stand for a certain charge or tax. I don't remember what each stands for but be forwarned; each ticket will have different ones. Each market has a different set of taxes applicable and it takes a lot of work to figure out what they all are especially internationally. The 120.00 YQ above would be the fuel surcharge.

I love it when someone takes the time to explain. :D Thank you! ^ ^ ^

aren't there restrictions regarding "END ON END"? i understood that for A-C-A via B each time, breaking the fare this way A-B & B-C each way, if A-B or B-C are like END ON END NOT PERMITTED, it would not price on the same ticket. If breaking the fare is cheaper than a A-C-A, the passenger would need to buy 2 separate tickets ABA and BCB losing connecting services like luggage through, checkin to end destination etc...

Does anyone know exactly what END ON END is and how it applies in fare calculations? have I understood right?

Yes, that would be "End on End."

Generally, "End on End" is permitted by the fare rules. Just not allways.

A real example, from the cheapest US SAN-ORD fare:
What is not permitted at all is buying two tickets to get around minimum stay rules. IE You fly ORD-SAN every week out on MON, back on Thur. You want a "Saturday night stay required" fare so buy ORD-SAN this Mon, back next Thur and a separate ticket SAN-ORD on Thur back on Mon next week. This is not allowed.

Thanks for the explanation. So if I have E/YTO, it would be a stopover in Toronto, right?

SmilingBoy.

No. "E/YTO" means TPM (Ticked Point Mileage) Deduction for the routing through YTO for MPM fares. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Ah - that makes sense. It is a YYC-BRU fare on LH; YYZ is a stopover, but I guess if it is only a stopover, you have neither /X nor /E, just YTO.

SmilingBoy.

i have this fare construction but i can't find anybody to book it online what do you guys recommend?

WAS UA X/FRA RJ X/AMM RJ ALP 546.50VKABE RJ X/AMM RJ X/LON UA WAS 546.50VKABE NUC 1093.00 END ROE 1.00 FARE USD 1093.00 XT 5.50YC 7.00XY 5.00XA 30.20US 2.50AY 16.10RA 14.10JO 29.10UB 170.00YQ 4.50XF IAD4.50

UA: WAS (Washington, DC) - ALP (Aleppo, Syria)
Fare Basis Code: VKABE
UA - V class
RJ - S class
$1093 base + $170 YQ surcharge + misc. taxes
Expedia can price it out. $1382.20 all-in

Let' say my TA cannot find a particular fare and I managed to locate it on ITA.

From what I understand, one can paste the fare construction string code into the TA's GDS, right? Will the TA be able to pull up the fare then?

I asked my TA but she was reluctant to do that? She muttered something about back invoicing. :confused:

Thanks in advance and if you can point me in the right direction/additional reading material, I would be pleased. :) Still trying to learn more.

The fare construction line should enable a competent TA to make a booking, using the exact fare(s) question (or give you an exact reason for being unable to do so) -- it's not an automated/copy-and-paste process.

OIC, thanks for the clarification. :) Now all I need is to find a competent TA. :(