Jul 1, 2013, 9:03 am
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Revenue buckets
J - Full Fare Business
C - Discount Business
D - Discount Business
Z - Deep Discount Business
P - Deep Discount Business
O - Full Fare PremiumPlus (Premium Economy)
A - Discount PremiumPlus (Premium Economy)
R - Deep Discount PremiumPlus (Premium Economy)
Y - Full Fare Coach
B - Full Fare Coach
M - Discount Coach
E - Discount Coach
U - Discount Coach
H - Discount Coach
Q - Discount Coach
V - Discount Coach
W - Deep Discount Coach
S - Deep Discount Coach
T - Deep Discount Coach
L - Deep Discount Coach
K - Deep Discount Coach
G - Deep Discount Coach
N - Basic Economy
Saver Award Inventory
IN - Elite (Plat/1K/GS) Saver Business or 2-cabin First Award
I - Non-Elite and Low Elite Saver Business or 2-cabin First Award
XN - Elite Saver Coach Award. Also available to Chase Gateway, Explorer, Quest, and United Club Visa cardholders as an undocumented benefit
X - Non-Elite Saver Coach Award
"Everyday" Award Inventory
JN - Elite/CC Everyday Business or 2-cabin First Award (may be open to all MP members )
ZN - Non-Elite Everyday Business or 2-cabin First Award (tracks to the Z bucket) (not clear if still used for award travel). Also used for buy-up upgrade offered at check-in. May be a factor in Skip-the-Waitliist availability
ON - Everyday PremiumPlus (Premium Economy) Award
YN - Elite/CC Everyday Coach Award (may be open to all MP members)
HN - Non-Elite Everyday Coach Award (tracks to the H bucket) (not clear this is still used)
Upgrade Inventory
PN - Y/B/M 1K Instant Upgrades (CPU eligible routes only); All GS sponsored upgrades Y->J (CPU, PlusPoints, miles)
PZ - Upgrades to Polaris Business, United Business, or United First (excepting GS sponsored upgrades and 1K Instant Upgrades)
RN - Upgrades to Premium Plus
Points earning for all upgrades is based on the originally purchased fare. Also see below.
Upgrades Note that upgraded flights will post to your MileagePlus statement as Z(X) where the second letter (X) is the original booking class. The parenthetical letter defines the earning rate for the flight as points are earned based on the original booking class.
How to read inventory numbers:
Why does J8C5D3Z0P0 mean?
The zero inventory is easy to explain, UA is presently unwilling to sell tickets using inventory in that fare class.
Does J8C5D3 mean there are 16 seats for sale? No -- there are just 8 available seats.
Inventory in a fare class is not additive but the lower fare classes are subsets of the higher fare classes
If UA sells / upgrades 1 seat in the premium fare class, the Inventory will like change to J7C4D2.
The J inventory is the total number of seats for sale in business/first. While C,D,Z, P ... are the number of seats UA is willing to sell in those lower fare classes
Going back to J8C5D3Z0P0, if you want 4 seats on a single PNR, you will have to purchase C fare, as there isn't enough inventory for D fare for everyone on the PNR and everyone on a common PNR must have the same fare class / fare basis.
In some cases, if a lower cabin is oversold, UA will then block, remove from inventory in the higher cabin to protect against the oversale.
Note the largest number for a UA fare class in public displays is 9 (some airlines limit to just 4), this prevents revealing too much information to the competitors or the public.
Award and upgrade inventory are also subsets on their respective cabin inventory
Management of inventory and maximizing revenue is the role of Revenue Management (RM), a highly secretive, proprietary operation of the airlines -- So inventory changes (within the physical limitations of the aircraft) will be dynamic and can change without notice as determine by RM
Archive thread: Decoding the alphabet soup - fare buckets for UA {Archive}
E - Discount Coach
U - Discount Coach
H - Discount Coach
Q - Discount Coach
V - Discount Coach
W - Deep Discount Coach
S - Deep Discount Coach
T - Deep Discount Coach
L - Deep Discount Coach
K - Deep Discount Coach
G - Deep Discount Coach
N - Basic Economy
Saver Award Inventory
IN - Elite (Plat/1K/GS) Saver Business or 2-cabin First Award
I - Non-Elite and Low Elite Saver Business or 2-cabin First Award
XN - Elite Saver Coach Award. Also available to Chase Gateway, Explorer, Quest, and United Club Visa cardholders as an undocumented benefit
X - Non-Elite Saver Coach Award
"Everyday" Award Inventory
JN - Elite/CC Everyday Business or 2-cabin First Award (may be open to all MP members )
ZN - Non-Elite Everyday Business or 2-cabin First Award (tracks to the Z bucket) (not clear if still used for award travel). Also used for buy-up upgrade offered at check-in. May be a factor in Skip-the-Waitliist availability
ON - Everyday PremiumPlus (Premium Economy) Award
YN - Elite/CC Everyday Coach Award (may be open to all MP members)
HN - Non-Elite Everyday Coach Award (tracks to the H bucket) (not clear this is still used)
Upgrade Inventory
PN - Y/B/M 1K Instant Upgrades (CPU eligible routes only); All GS sponsored upgrades Y->J (CPU, PlusPoints, miles)
PZ - Upgrades to Polaris Business, United Business, or United First (excepting GS sponsored upgrades and 1K Instant Upgrades)
RN - Upgrades to Premium Plus
Points earning for all upgrades is based on the originally purchased fare. Also see below.
Upgrades Note that upgraded flights will post to your MileagePlus statement as Z(X) where the second letter (X) is the original booking class. The parenthetical letter defines the earning rate for the flight as points are earned based on the original booking class.
How to read inventory numbers:
Why does J8C5D3Z0P0 mean?
The zero inventory is easy to explain, UA is presently unwilling to sell tickets using inventory in that fare class.
Does J8C5D3 mean there are 16 seats for sale? No -- there are just 8 available seats.
Inventory in a fare class is not additive but the lower fare classes are subsets of the higher fare classes
If UA sells / upgrades 1 seat in the premium fare class, the Inventory will like change to J7C4D2.
The J inventory is the total number of seats for sale in business/first. While C,D,Z, P ... are the number of seats UA is willing to sell in those lower fare classes
Going back to J8C5D3Z0P0, if you want 4 seats on a single PNR, you will have to purchase C fare, as there isn't enough inventory for D fare for everyone on the PNR and everyone on a common PNR must have the same fare class / fare basis.
In some cases, if a lower cabin is oversold, UA will then block, remove from inventory in the higher cabin to protect against the oversale.
Note the largest number for a UA fare class in public displays is 9 (some airlines limit to just 4), this prevents revealing too much information to the competitors or the public.
Award and upgrade inventory are also subsets on their respective cabin inventory
Management of inventory and maximizing revenue is the role of Revenue Management (RM), a highly secretive, proprietary operation of the airlines -- So inventory changes (within the physical limitations of the aircraft) will be dynamic and can change without notice as determine by RM
Archive thread: Decoding the alphabet soup - fare buckets for UA {Archive}
Decoding the alphabet soup - fare buckets for UA
Feb 26, 2020, 8:19 am
#76
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
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Fixed it to remove "mixed". Either way, the I/IN award was a higher rate than I wanted to pay, so I didn't try to book it. There is still a question as to why it is showing me, a Gold member, the I/IN award. It may be that this is just an error in the award search. I have seen (crappy) routings that show all I, and those have been a lower amount of miles than those that include IN on UA. Given that, in the past, I wouldn't see the IN space, I don't know if those were the same "price".
Feb 26, 2020, 9:32 am
#77
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: DEN
Programs: UA 1P-1MM, Marriott LT Titanium
Posts: 3,930
IST-FRA-DEN 155K with FRA-DEN on UA (IN)
Interestingly, there are some cheaper options mid-week that are:
IST-MUC-ORD-DEN on OS IST-MUC and UA for MUC-ORD DEN - that lists as a mixed cabin award with IST-MUC in X, MUC-ORD in I and ORD-DEN in XN for 60K miles (listed as "Saver Award"). There is also an option for the "Standard" award at 155K miles that lists as IST-MUC in X, MUC-ORD in IN and ORD-DEN in IN. My searches have consistently shown the 155K price point with either I or X on the IST-XXX flight, then IN on the UA TATL flight. I do think that this is consistent with the way things may have shown in the past.
This clearly could be the "higher level elite" category in IN showing, but I'm not sure why I would get it unless they dropped this to gold from the previously reported GS/1K/Plat.
Interestingly, there are some cheaper options mid-week that are:
IST-MUC-ORD-DEN on OS IST-MUC and UA for MUC-ORD DEN - that lists as a mixed cabin award with IST-MUC in X, MUC-ORD in I and ORD-DEN in XN for 60K miles (listed as "Saver Award"). There is also an option for the "Standard" award at 155K miles that lists as IST-MUC in X, MUC-ORD in IN and ORD-DEN in IN. My searches have consistently shown the 155K price point with either I or X on the IST-XXX flight, then IN on the UA TATL flight. I do think that this is consistent with the way things may have shown in the past.
This clearly could be the "higher level elite" category in IN showing, but I'm not sure why I would get it unless they dropped this to gold from the previously reported GS/1K/Plat.
Feb 26, 2020, 10:08 am
#79
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: DEN
Programs: UA 1P-1MM, Marriott LT Titanium
Posts: 3,930
4 April 2020, but I can look at multiple dates. There are some routings showing "Exclusively available to you as a Mileage Plus Premier member" and some that don't show that. There seems to be not consistency between whether those show some flights as IN or I.
Feb 26, 2020, 10:32 am
#80
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,400
Is it showing up in the "Business Saver Award" or "Business Everyday Award" category for you? I see that flight as I/JN (not IN) in Business Everyday Award. Are you sure that's an I? (JN) and (IN) look very similar in the font UA is using.
Aug 19, 2021, 11:59 am
#82
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Honolulu Harbor
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 15,019
ON is an award code. A is upgradeable Premium Economy. RN is upgrade into premium economy, PZ is upgrade into F or J.
I think...
I wish the fare classes were easy to find as they were in a now-gone sticky thread ....
I think...
I wish the fare classes were easy to find as they were in a now-gone sticky thread ....
Aug 19, 2021, 12:39 pm
#83
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,850
PremPlus paid fares are O, A, R (R is the most discount)
RN is "saver" PremPlus award space (not sure if this actually available)
ON is "everyday" PremPlus award space
RN is also used for Economy to PremPlus upgrades
RN is "saver" PremPlus award space (not sure if this actually available)
ON is "everyday" PremPlus award space
RN is also used for Economy to PremPlus upgrades
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Aug 19, 2021 at 12:48 pm Reason: (not sure if this actually available)
Aug 19, 2021, 12:56 pm
#84
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,400
RN is only upgrade space. There's no such thing as a saver Premium Plus award.
Aug 19, 2021, 1:35 pm
#85
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,850
Makes sense in the long run with variable dynamic pricing is for there to be only one award fare class per cabin.
Aug 19, 2021, 2:10 pm
#86
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Aug 19, 2021, 2:21 pm
#87
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Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,450
Aug 19, 2021, 4:03 pm
#88
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Join Date: Aug 2017
Programs: AS 75K, DL Silver, UA Platinum, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Platinum + LT Gold
Posts: 10,501
Here is a handy chart of UA fare buckets I use all the time: https://cwsi.net/united.htm
The site also lists codes of other carriers.
The site also lists codes of other carriers.
Aug 19, 2021, 6:19 pm
#89
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
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Posts: 66,850
Here is a handy chart of UA fare buckets I use all the time: https://cwsi.net/united.htm .....
listing PQM and PQS today -- not used for multiple years,
"C to F on 3-cabin aircraft"
B listed as Premium Economy
Confusing comments on Basic Economy -- referring to "United Basic Economy (highest revenue fare)" and then mixing N domestic comments with International BE
"Elite/CC EasyPass Coach Award." == 10 year old terminology used by premerger CO, not by UA
as is the term "Saver Pass"
RN -- Premier instant upgrade (from Y/B) for Premier Plat/Gold/Silver;
Just a few of the errors I got in a couple of minutes reviewing the site.
Aug 19, 2021, 7:14 pm
#90
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: DC
Posts: 57
That site has been notorious behind / out of date at times. AND STILL IS, such as
listing PQM and PQS today -- not used for multiple years,
"C to F on 3-cabin aircraft"
B listed as Premium Economy
Confusing comments on Basic Economy -- referring to "United Basic Economy (highest revenue fare)" and then mixing N domestic comments with International BE
"Elite/CC EasyPass Coach Award." == 10 year old terminology used by premerger CO, not by UA
as is the term "Saver Pass"
RN -- Premier instant upgrade (from Y/B) for Premier Plat/Gold/Silver;
Just a few of the errors I got in a couple of minutes reviewing the site.
listing PQM and PQS today -- not used for multiple years,
"C to F on 3-cabin aircraft"
B listed as Premium Economy
Confusing comments on Basic Economy -- referring to "United Basic Economy (highest revenue fare)" and then mixing N domestic comments with International BE
"Elite/CC EasyPass Coach Award." == 10 year old terminology used by premerger CO, not by UA
as is the term "Saver Pass"
RN -- Premier instant upgrade (from Y/B) for Premier Plat/Gold/Silver;
Just a few of the errors I got in a couple of minutes reviewing the site.