Understanding fare rules & impact of stopover in ZRH
Jun 8, 22, 9:28 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: GRU, ZRH, LUG
Programs: LX SEN, BA Silver
Posts: 110
Understanding fare rules & impact of stopover in ZRH
Hi all - I am sorry if this question is not worth a thread by itself, but didn't find a better place to post.
I was looking for flights from GRU to Switzerland/Italy later in June, and given outrageous prices in PE and C, I tried to experiment with F to see if any bargain was available (but that's also expensive). While doing so, I noticed something interesting and, for me, mysterious. Maybe someone here can explain why this is happening.
Base case - round-trip search on Ita
GRU-ZRH-MXP 21/06/2022
MXP-ZRH-GRU 01/07/2022
Approx. USD 6.700
GRU-ZRH books in F
Searching flight using multi-city view on Ita
GRU-ZRH 21/06
ZRH-MXP 22/06 or 23/06
MXP-ZRH-GRU 01/07
Approx. USD 4.700
GRU-ZRH books in A
It seems like that when booking a multi-city flight with separate segments I am able to book the first flight (GRU-ZRH) in A, while when using the normal round-trip search the first flight only shows in F. The same happens when looking at Expertflyer. Lastly, I could also price the cheaper itinerary on OTA, so it seems that it is really available.
Anyone knows how come this is happening?
Base Case: Round-trip search
Multi-city search
I was looking for flights from GRU to Switzerland/Italy later in June, and given outrageous prices in PE and C, I tried to experiment with F to see if any bargain was available (but that's also expensive). While doing so, I noticed something interesting and, for me, mysterious. Maybe someone here can explain why this is happening.
Base case - round-trip search on Ita
GRU-ZRH-MXP 21/06/2022
MXP-ZRH-GRU 01/07/2022
Approx. USD 6.700
GRU-ZRH books in F
Searching flight using multi-city view on Ita
GRU-ZRH 21/06
ZRH-MXP 22/06 or 23/06
MXP-ZRH-GRU 01/07
Approx. USD 4.700
GRU-ZRH books in A
It seems like that when booking a multi-city flight with separate segments I am able to book the first flight (GRU-ZRH) in A, while when using the normal round-trip search the first flight only shows in F. The same happens when looking at Expertflyer. Lastly, I could also price the cheaper itinerary on OTA, so it seems that it is really available.
Anyone knows how come this is happening?
Base Case: Round-trip search
Multi-city search
Jun 8, 22, 12:06 pm
#2
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: BRU
Posts: 193
It is the married segment logic. Swiss does not want to sell A seats on gru-zrh-mxp, but is willing to do so on gru-zrh alone. Most likely as gru-mxp is cheaper than gru-zrh.
By adding the stopover, you benefit from both A availability and the cheap fare, at a cost of "wasted time" in Zurich.
By adding the stopover, you benefit from both A availability and the cheap fare, at a cost of "wasted time" in Zurich.
Jun 8, 22, 1:05 pm
#3
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: ZRH, Switzerland
Programs: M&M, Fan of MO, Shangri-La.
Posts: 650
Originally Posted by fereke
It is the married segment logic. Swiss does not want to sell A seats on gru-zrh-mxp, but is willing to do so on gru-zrh alone. Most likely as gru-mxp is cheaper than gru-zrh.
By adding the stopover, you benefit from both A availability and the cheap fare, at a cost of "wasted time" in Zurich.
By adding the stopover, you benefit from both A availability and the cheap fare, at a cost of "wasted time" in Zurich.
The fare, as is shown on the OP'S screenshot, is still a GRU-MXP in both cases. Just adding a few hours transit time within 24 hours of arrival is not creating a stopover.
The reason why the connection to LX1628 around noon is more expensive than the connection to LX 1622 in the late afternoon is just that the noon flight is in higher demand than the evening flight. Just try to book ZRH - MXP isolated and you'll see a big price difference between noon and evening. So it's more like David (LX1628] who beats Goliath (LX93) and triggers the F instead of the A on the longhaul.
Jun 8, 22, 1:20 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: GRU, ZRH, LUG
Programs: LX SEN, BA Silver
Posts: 110
Originally Posted by LoungeLizzard
sorry, but no.
The reason why the connection to LX1628 around noon is more expensive than the connection to LX 1622 in the late afternoon is just that the noon flight is in higher demand than the evening flight. Just try to book ZRH - MXP isolated and you'll see a big price difference between noon and evening. So it's more like David (LX1628] who beats Goliath (LX93) and triggers the F instead of the A on the longhaul.
The reason why the connection to LX1628 around noon is more expensive than the connection to LX 1622 in the late afternoon is just that the noon flight is in higher demand than the evening flight. Just try to book ZRH - MXP isolated and you'll see a big price difference between noon and evening. So it's more like David (LX1628] who beats Goliath (LX93) and triggers the F instead of the A on the longhaul.
Jun 8, 22, 3:25 pm
#5
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: ZRH, Switzerland
Programs: M&M, Fan of MO, Shangri-La.
Posts: 650
...and in the mean time LX93 on June 21 seems to have sold out in First, so we"ll probably never find out.
if you could really buy the exact same flights at different prices on swiss.com depending on the search either via multi city or via directly entering origin and destination, then I'd write that off to the long list of LH IT shortfalls.
if you could really buy the exact same flights at different prices on swiss.com depending on the search either via multi city or via directly entering origin and destination, then I'd write that off to the long list of LH IT shortfalls.
