What Good Are Fare Buckets?
 

A flight on Continental shows Q9 availability, but it impossible to book a "Q" fare on the flight. When I try to book the flight, it only offers a "B" fare. So what good is it to know "fare buckets" if I can't select from them?

The Q class fare bucket you want to select from may not be a valid fare for the time you want to book your travel.

Huh? Then why doesn't the flight display "Q0"?

If there is a Q fare on the market and its rules don't conflict with the flight in question, you should be okay. However, all you need is one segment to be zeroed out and you're SOL.

Q class may only be valid between certain city pairs, or there might be a minimum time restriction to book it. If you look at flights less than a week before departure, most of the booking classes are opened up (as long as the flight is not full) becuase the airline knows you will not be able to buy into the cheaper buckets and at the same time allows people trying to change their return flights to be able to do so for a fee.

Correct me if I am wrong but wouldn't Q0 (ZERO) mean there current is no Q fares available??

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opps

Q class might still be "open" for people who qualify for it.

Let me try to give one example. Let's say Q class requires a 14 day advance purchase when you are flying from LAX to DFW. 13 days before your flight you try to buy a Q class ticket but the computer will not allow you to do so becuase you are under 14 days before departure so it puts you into a different fare bucket. Now, lets say a person started a trip from DFW(on a Q class fare) and was currently in LAX and was scheduled to fly back to DFW the next day but wanted to try to change the return date to a the following day. The fare rules allow you to change the date as long as you pay a change fee and you can book the new return back into Q class.

The other example would be a fare from LAX to MIA in Q class might only require a 3 day advance purchase---not a 14 day.

Thanks for the explanation, it helps a little. What I don't really understand is what good is it for me to see fare bucket availability because anytime I use a website to book a flight, it automatically selects the fare. I'm not given an opportunity to choose my own booking code class.

Well, it can still be useful for many things.

You can see if a flight has no seats left, limited seats in cheap fare buckets (book quickly!), or is wide-open. You may want to choose a flight (closer to the date) that has loads of availability in Y, so you've got a good chance of an empty seat next to you. Or you may be a top-tier élite, and want to go for one that almost booked-out in Y, but half-empty in C/J, to go for that op-up, or have a better chance for an MFU.

And, of course, not all TAs and airline websites offer the same fares. Perhaps you see a price of £500, but you can see full availability in many fare buckets, prompting you to widen your search.

If you're doing a complex, multi-leg search, it can help to find that one sector that bumps your fare right up to full-fare, and find out the alternatives.

It can be a very useful tool.

(Or you could have a wonderful TA, who does all this for you. I don't, sadly...)

By itself, seat inventory is not very useful.

It is but one piece of the puzzle!

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"Don't be sorry. Be quiet!" -- Minister, Spaceballs

If you know you need a fare that's booked in a particular booking class/fare bucket, and for some reason the fares that are being offered to you by websites are no good for your, you need to see a travel agent or to call the airline's res line. They will be able to put a booking together in the specific class you need, and if there's a valid fare for the trip in that class, price it accordingly.

easySabre used to let you do this online. But it seems the good die young.

[This message has been edited by Globaliser (edited Feb 07, 2004).]