TICKET CLASSES explained
 

K class---Y class--F class? What do these mean?

F means first class. A is also used for first class. If an airline has both, one will be for paid tickets and the other for award seats and upgrades (there may even be a third to separate those two), but it varies which is which depending on the airline.

C and J are used similarly for business class.

Most other letters are kinds of coach ticket. Y is universally the full walkup changeable coach fare. B is normally the next-highest (say, a 3-day advance). After that, it varies. (For example, U is the lowest on Delta, followed by L, and then K, which is the cheapest fare on which one can try to upgrade to business class on a domestic flight.)

On USAirways:

F -- First Class (paid) inventory
G -- First class (upgrade) inventory
Y -- Full fare coach
B -- Slightly less full fare coach
V -- Usually for esavers and other deeply discounted fares

F P A = First class
F for example on LH and UA, P on SQ and NZ, A is as far as I know only used by UA for discounted F (RTW) or for US segments on int'l Biz class trips, which entitles to sit First Class - booking class being A
C J D = Biz (D = discounted)
Y = Coach full fare

all others are "just" coach classes. Which letter is for the deepest discounted tix varies from carrier to carrier and doesn't follow any logic. Letters are quite often followed by some other codes, which usually describe the restrictions.

V WE14, which could mean
booking class V Weekend Stay required, 14 days advanced purchase.

I have flown last February on AA CDG to DFW back JFK -CDG in First CLass and the fare basis code ("FBC") was "A".
By the way, I forgot that Transatlantic flights on AA wouldn't give miles on BA Executive Club, so for my First Class transatlantic flights all I got was 0 (ZERO) mile !! Congrats to BA on that one. I am VERY upset.

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AF Red, BA Gold, CO Gold

"N" seems to indicate (at least one some airlines) an Internet special that may come with tighter restrictions than even normal deep-discount coach tickets.

It even gets more convoluted than that which is described above. However, the STAR and One World carriers have attempted some coordination of their respective fare codes.

Some booking codes may be for multiple purposes, ie, "A" may be for award F, as well as upgrade F, as well as discounted F, even within the same airline. One airline may use a certain inventory on another airline to get partner awards ... this may NOT be the same inventory that the partner's own members receive awards from. Also, a certain inventory may be that from which a consolidator gets seats for resale, but already has a contracted price with the airline.

Well to confuse you more... (with United)

United First Class
F, XF = Free ticket F, NF = Upgraded to First
C, XC= Free ticket in Busineess, NC = Upgraded to Business...
I think I have it correct??
More fun huh?

LAx1k,

Thats what I have seen so for on UAL. I know its fifferent for some others. For example, on Continental, XF is an Upgraded First ticket. Interesting how the stubs of the boarding pass just show the root class (Either F, C or Y)

As alluded to in the last post, Y class seems to mean at least two different things. To marketing, Y class seems to mean a full fare coach ticket, which is also called Y fare code and Y fare some places. But if I buy a ticket in W or Q or whatever, my ticket stub ALWAYS says "Class-Y". This caused me to not get a bonus that I signed up for and bought two tickets just to get. United wrote to me, "Your passenger receipt would indicate the true class that you purchased. Your boarding passes will always indicate 'Y' class when you are in economy class. This is done to designate which cabin you will be sitting in, this doesn't indicate the class of service provided." I think I understand, but I still find this quite confusing.

After I had the problem that I mentioned in the previous post, I did a little experiment. After I checked in and had my boarding pass from the front counter, I approached United employees at the gate desks or service desks. All tickets were not full-fare coach tickets, but the boarding pass said "Class-Y". I asked, "This says Class-Y; is this a Y class ticket?" I got three yes, three no. The explanations were not particularly inconsistent, but 1.) there was some confusion among the employees, and 2.) there was a clear semantic problem with the designation.

sosafan, your experience reflects the ambiguity between booking class and cabin class. Y being the main culprit because it is used to describe coach class in general, the coach cabin on the plane, coach booking class in general, and also the more specific Y full fare booking class. "Yes, you're in Y class," can mean "Yes, you're in economy class" or "You're in the economy cabin" or "Your ticket is a full fare coach class ticket."

It's a farce. All I know is when it's someone else's dime, Y,C, and F are cool. When the $$$ comes from my wallet, W,V,Q,M, and H are much more attractive. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I seem to fly X class on AA when upgrading to first.

http://www.travelterminal.com/whatsinafare.shtml

Very informative ! Cool!

N is the code for free ticket on Delta.



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Time..... is on my side.

Good link doc. I have always wondered what the heck Q and M classes are. I am flying Q class this weekend, 7 day advance purchase with Saturday night stay. Still not a cheap flight though but beats Y by about $1,300! Might as well go F http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Y-class does not mean full-fare coach on all airlines. On LH for example Y is used for "Discover Europe" tickets available for travellers from overseas to Europe, flying into Europe on non-Staralliance carriers.
On *alliance it is booked in G-class.
Easy, isn't it ?!?

And by the way, unrestricted full-fare coach on LH is booked in H-class.

[This message has been edited by cesco.g (edited 10-13-2000).]

Booked a discounted business class fare on CO to AMS earlier this year. Booking class was Z and NW only gave me coach class mileage, even though it wasn't an upgraded flight. I am still fighting over it with NW.

Hmmm, I just received an award ticket in F on BA and the class is listed as Z and the fare basis code starts with a P.

Northwest has something they call P. I think this is some kind of first class fare basis, but I know they also offer F for first class.

Any idea what NWA's P is?

"Booked a discounted business class fare on CO to AMS earlier this year. Booking class was Z and NW only gave me coach class mileage, even though it wasn't an upgraded flight. I am still fighting over it with NW."

Sorry but NOT surprised! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

"Any idea what NWA's 'P' is?"

It's not PATHETIC, is it? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

With apologies,
-Mark

NW's P class is for full-fare, paid First Class. However, with NW discontinuing First Class product internationally, I'm not sure what P will stand for in the future.

Generally, airlines each have their own system of booking classes. This was designed, I believe, for revenue/yield management purposes. Each booking/fare class (should be distinguished from service class), is assigned to be booked in a certain level within each airline's revenue/yield management hierarchy. However, booking classes might not always book into the same bucket (revenue management term for fare class within the system) on all flights, or even on the same flights. Therefore, it is entirely possible to have a 2 B booking class ticket on the same flight booking in different buckets. This allows the airlines to control the seats being sold at different fare levels through adjustments anytime throughout the lifetime of the booking period.

Another point to keep in mind is that designated booking classes are not necessarily assigned based on rules or fares, but also for point of sale.

Hope that helps.