Yes. "Incongruence" = mistake. Many thanks for the correction. Just closing the loop, this LA domestic flight has both Y and L class seats; however, all the seats are, as a physical matter, economy. That's my understanding at least. Thanks again.

OK .... well, I don't know about Alan but I've been confused from the start! The OP said "I've noticed that on several AA flights, the only available inventory booking classes are C, Y, B, M, V, K, and Q." AFAIK, AA does not use C as a "booking class" - it's a hidden inventory class used for VIP upgrades, so you're never going to see it alongside Y, B, M etc. D will never appear on a domestic AA flight and the only flights that will not show F or A are single-class Eagle flights. I was unclear (and still am) whether the OP was referring to flights that had zero availability in A, D or L (as the case may be) or flights that simply did not have those classes at all.

From xONEx rules

Thus BA CX IB QF LA* LP* JL* JO AY EG MA RJ XL 4M all book into less than full economy should first/business not be offered. Where first/business is offered but not available, even AA (excl flights numbered 3000-5599) books into less than full economy.

*excl domestic

As listed by Kiwi Flyer, there are a few specific cases where a DONE/AONE will book into Y , but they are the exception rather than the rule. Generally , the only valid classes are A,D and L

If you have a DONE and want to rebook into economy, in general you will need L availability and you should be prepared for the surprise when they will not rebook you if there is no L

Dave

Do we have specific examples of where a OW airline has refused to put an A or D passenger into an economy seat because there was no L available?

The above rules deal with whether A, D or L are "offered". That is different from "available". All it says is if the you have A or D and that's not offered on that flight, you go down - except on AA domestic where you can go up from D to A.

If I'm on a DONE4 and the flight I want is D0, any OW airline that would refuse to put me in an available economy seat has clearly lost the plot and has no clue what customer service is all about. They may well do it (and I'd be interested in anyone's specific examples where it has happened to them) but I would still complain loudly and vociferously if it ever happened to me.

I had a DONE5 booking held up where JNB-LHR was D0 and L0 and I was unable to confirm in either. I ended up rerouting to avoid Africa since waitlist showed no sign of clearing.

Other than in irrops (and you already have a confirmed booking), you have to have availability in the designated booking class.

This is one reason *A RTWs are better for economy (IMO) as they use a fairly high booking class.

No they haven't ;good customer service does not involve pandering to every whim of a customer regardless. If there is no availability, then I cannot see what there is to complain about when the airline provides that which is paid for

I do know of people of a DONE4 wanting to travel on a flight which was listed as D0L0 and not being able to book on it

Dave

You may consider allowing a customer with a business class ticket to sit in an available economy seat is "pandering to every whim of a customer", I certainly do not (and, frankly, I can't imagine many other people would either).

Presumably BA (if it was JNB-LHR) and they refused to open up a seat for you? I can understand them saying "sorry, we're not taking any more of those L class people on that flight" but refusing to open up a seat for a passenger with a paid business ticket who is willing to sit in economy is still, to me, a ludicrous way to run a business.

I understand the notion that you have to have availability in the designated booking class but refusing to make that class available to a passenger who has paid for a ticket in a premium cabin just strikes me as a bizarre way to run a business. It would be like going to Hertz, having reserved (and paid for) a Mercedes, only to find they don't have one - and they refuse to give you the Ford Fiesta that's sitting there available. Bizarre.

If you want to downgrade to L class then that is all fine and dandy; good customer service does not involve pandering to the whim that a person should be allowed to book on a flight regardless of whether there is availability in an appropriate booking class

The OW ATW fares are clear on what the voluntary downgrade process is; the same principle applies to a 1st class holder wanting to travel in business class; D is required, not J or C

A full fare 1st ticket is different ( but typically a lot more expensive ) in that if F is not available then J can be used and then Y

Dave

I was waitlisted for HNL-DFW in A and couln't get a confirmed seat in Economy because there are no L availability but plenty of free seats in other booking classes. But the waitlist cleared after a few weeks or so so I can fly "frist".

But for the airline that Y seat may bring in more revenue than the discounted business ticket especially on the non-long haul segments that account for most of the revenue on a rtw fare. If the passenger that wants to downgrade is holding a ticket that is not discounted or restricted then I agree with you but in other situations the decision to not allow a downgrade when the conditions of the restricted ticket are not met may make economic sense to the airline.

Sorry for throwing the spanner into the thread. Yes, my confusion was due to the L9 typo.

I have in the past been denied a reservation on an all-economy QantasLink Dash 8 SYD-CBR service during a DONE4. Plenty of availability, but none in L. Conversely I have been allowed to book onto an American Eagle flight with no L, but Y available. Both of these are in accordance with the rules.

Seems like although the rules have inconsistencies between carriers, they are at least applied consistently in accordance with those rules.

Thank you - I was wondering how long before someone would point out that, if it was say Y2, the airline might not want to give you that seat. I agree, but absent that situation, I think it is bizarre to reject a voluntary downgrade if there are plenty of seats available. The only reason to deny it should be a yield management decision.

The rules clearly provide for the required inventory to be requested, (with, I would presume, an assumption that it will be made available unless yield management is holding out to sell those Y seats).

27N REQUIRED INVENTORY NOT AVAILABLE
28N ---------------------------------
29N .
30N IF THE REQUIRED RTW INVENTORY IS NOT AVAILABLE, IT
31N MUST BE REQUESTED USING NN.
32N .

The rule is not made for voluntary downgrades. It assumes that A or D is not available.
In this case, you normally book into L. And I would not count on any airline making L seats available to you even if the plane flies half empty. It would surprise me if yield management looks at the source of the L waiting list. IMHO they do not differentiate between someone who has a cheap ticket and someone on an AONE5.