Difference between J and C
 

I'm trying to understand the lingo, so as to have accurate trip reports.

I've seen that talking about first class and coach, it's standard to use F and Y, respectively. But when it comes to business, I've seen C and J. Is there a difference? Does it depend on the airline? Does one imply a two-class service, and a three-class the other?

C and J are the same thing. Some airlines use C to indicate biz and some use J.

Never try to smoke a J in C !

I have always come to associate "J" with Full fare Business or Executive class......while "C" is aligned with a discounted Business class fare.

i think c is sometimes a j award code....

Probably each airline has its own fare class chart. Here is the one for Delta:
http://cwsi.net/delta.htm

I tend to think of them as they are: First, Second and Third classes.

Thank you for all the answers.

I probably should have explained myself a little better, but I was posting from an iPhone, and it isn't easy.

While I understand that each airline has a different chart, if I want to write a report and indicate that I flew in coach or economy, I only say I flew Y, regardless of the actual fare code. The same applies for First, I write F, regardless of wether it was F, O, or any other fare. But for business I have seen both C and J being used. In fact, in a post on the Cathay Pacific forum I wrote about C class, but everyone who replied used J instead.

But, going back to the answers that I have received so far, if on my report I wrote I flew CO C or CO J, it seems that they'd both be understood as business class on continental.

F and Y are fare codes that for whatever reason became standardized across the industry. They usually indicate a full-fare first or economy fare. C and J also normally indicate full-fare biz, but most airlines use one or the other- not both (as you discovered when talking about Cathay). Which letter is used varies by airline.

I understand "C" came from PanAm's Clipper Class ... where did J come from?

Not the case by any strecth. UA uses C for full-Business Class. The tougher one are the carriers which make up names for the class of service. On a three-class aircraft, I think of it as First, Business and Economy, whatever marketing cr** name they make up. If 4-class, I think of it as Premium Economy.

This is the correct answer :)

Some use both. :) NW used to use J and C, where J was the higher fare bucket. Then came Z.

IIRC didn't J get introduced originally to denote higher service levels for an upgraded business class product? that is, business class premium?

so you had the original business class, which might have just been a separate cordoned off cabin, but essentially just economy seats (this is going way back). once airlines started to improve this, they needed to differentiate, hence class J.

the same applied in some cases to regular first class F, and premium first class which was denoted by P.

not all airlines introduced the same class codes at the same time, and indeed not all airlines used all the ones available.

today, if I see 'C' I generally take it to mean a regional, or short haul full fare offering with little differentiation... for example most European airlines 'business class' within Europe... it's essentially the same seat and leg room, just more flexibility, lounge access and a meal. however in Australia for example, where domestic business class has wider seats, and a big difference in service, that is designated J.

internationlly, when i see the use of J i take it to mean premium long haul products.

Old school United called the business class "Consierge class". I think ANZ does this too.