I have a new booking engine that we have to use for business trips. My company NEVER allowed FC tickets (the trip would be red flagged and denied)... Hoever, their ne policy now allows FC trips over 1,000 miles. To boot, NWA is a prefered carrier, which is a plus in my book!

Here is my question... and documentation...

July 19 PHX-DTW-CLT
NW 0426 / P9 F8 Y9 B9 M7 H0 Q0 V0 L0 T0 K0
NW 1570 / P9 F9 Y9 B9 M7 H0 Q0 V0 L0 T0 K0

July 21 CLT-MSP-PHX
NW 1669 / P9 F9 Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q0 V0 L0 T0 K0
NW 0113 / P9 F9 Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 V9 L1 T0 K0

Why when I pick these exact flights rather thru my booking engine or NWA.com, do they pull all FC flights when it shows room in coach? Like I mentioned I can use FC, but too I need to mention unless I need these times and prove, then no problem... BUT an additional warning comes up stating that CO has fares in the area of $430RT when this FC will cost $781 (w/corp discount).

I would rather take the coach for a cheaper price and get UG to FC as I have 39 / 39 flights to date this year... these are not real high Elite routes... so I still have a good chance.

Thanks to anyone who can let me know what to do or figure this out.

Thanks!
Nutzz

I'm sorry, Nutzz, but I don't get your question... maybe it's because it's early in the morning for me . Could you rephrase?

Clearly, there is room in coach, BUT I am automaticaly getting thrown into FC... I am trying to figure out why,,, I want a Free UG not pay "F" class (or the company won't have to pay FC) if they dont have to.

Let me know if that helped. Just dont get it!?

For these flights, the lowest available F fare is lower than the lowest available Y fare. But if you really want to buy the lowest available Y fare and wait for your "free" upgrade, call NW. I'm sure a good agent can make it happen.

You might be running into married segments (there are seats open from A-B and B-C, but when sold as "A-C", the seats disappear). They do this as part of revenue management, hoping to squeeze more $ out of folks like you. Don't worry, all the airlines do this, though.

If you play around with your timings a little bit, I could find some trips in true economy (V/M class or something) for about $650. Not a huge savings, but it might be worth it on your expense report. You can do even cheaper by flying the DL-codeshares, but alas no upgrades. Good luck.