Jan 15, 2024, 10:36 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Oct 2018 - Significant fare class changes with the introduction of new premium economy fares ("Premium Plus") and the elimination of 3-class F.
Related threads
3-class First seats now considered Domestic F/Polaris Business & selectable by 1K/GSs
Changes to UA's Fare Classes (19-20 October 2018)
Related threads
3-class First seats now considered Domestic F/Polaris Business & selectable by 1K/GSs
Changes to UA's Fare Classes (19-20 October 2018)
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}
Decoding the alphabet soup - fare buckets for UA {Archive}
Oct 8, 2018, 10:58 am
#976
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,392
JN is used for Business and 2-cabin First Standard Awards for pax with any Premier status or those with a qualifying Chase card. (With no Premier status and no CC, the class is ZN.)
Oct 8, 2018, 11:11 am
#977
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,769
For more on which award inventory is available to credit card holders, see https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...dit-cards.html
Oct 8, 2018, 4:31 pm
#978
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: SF
Programs: United-GOLD, AA
Posts: 142
JN bucket fare
Thank you for all the good info-how do I get the JN bucket? Do I , as with R (for example), simply buy the ticket then request the upgrade by phone or online? Or do I have to go onto a different screen for travel awards?
How do I find the JN fare?
How do I find the JN fare?
Oct 8, 2018, 4:42 pm
#979
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,769
JN is an award -- you book via the award flight search. It will show up under the Business EveryDay Award column while cheaper business saver awards (I/IN when available) will be in the Business Saver Award column.
Oct 8, 2018, 7:03 pm
#980
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: SF
Programs: United-GOLD, AA
Posts: 142
Help me I'm drowning here: I found 9 JN qualified seats with expert mode: are these upgradeable seats or simply PQS---I searched for an economy eligible business upgrade for the itinerary, found the economy eligible but then website said NO UPGRADES. So what does it mean when expert mode shows JN availability?? Are they actually upgrades (looking for economy>business)
So where do I go on the website to capture 2 of the 9 JN seats?
Thank you for your patience.
So where do I go on the website to capture 2 of the 9 JN seats?
Thank you for your patience.
Oct 8, 2018, 7:07 pm
#981
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,769
Help me I'm drowning here: I found 9 JN qualified seats with expert mode: are these upgradeable seats or simply PQS---I searched for an economy eligible business upgrade for the itinerary, found the economy eligible but then website said NO UPGRADES. So what does it mean when expert mode shows JN availability?? Are they actually upgrades (looking for economy>business)
So where do I go on the website to capture 2 of the 9 JN seats?
Thank you for your patience.
So where do I go on the website to capture 2 of the 9 JN seats?
Thank you for your patience.
JN is an EveryDay award fare class for tickets purchased with all miles. and as an EveryDay award, it takes 2x or more miles than a Saver business award.
Oct 20, 2018, 11:59 am
#982
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,769
As has been noticed by many, UA has appeared to many a number of fare class changes on 19-20 October 2018.
For now let's focus the discussion on the changes in https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...er-2018-a.html
At some point when this is more fully understood, there will likely be a need for a new "Decoding the alphabet" thread
WineCountryUA
UA coModerator
For now let's focus the discussion on the changes in https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...er-2018-a.html
At some point when this is more fully understood, there will likely be a need for a new "Decoding the alphabet" thread
WineCountryUA
UA coModerator
Nov 1, 2018, 1:34 am
#983
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: SNA and BNA depending on work and time of year
Programs: UA Silver/ AA EXP/Hyatt Globalist/Marriott Lifetime Titanium/Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,189
Quick question - is is still W minimum purchase for GPU? And I need to be looking for IN now instead of R? Just making sure I have this correct. Thanks!
Nov 1, 2018, 3:07 am
#984
Join Date: Aug 2013
Programs: UA GS, QF Plat, Marriot/SPG Plat, IHG Plat Amb, Hertz PC, National Exec
Posts: 47
Nov 23, 2018, 7:25 am
#985
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: San Francisco/Sydney
Programs: UA 1K/MM, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Something, IHG Gold, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 8,147
I v's IN
I've got an upcoming award booking, EDI-EWR-SFO, booked in economy (YN, one of their variable price awards), and waitlisted for business.
The second leg (EWR-SFO) is waitlisted in "IN", which makes sense given IN>I.
However the first left (EDI-EWR) is only waitlisted in "I", which potentially means that if IN availability does appear (without "I" also appearing) I'll miss out. This is a UA metal flight (not partner), and obviously booked using the UA flight number.
Whilst in the SFO Polaris lounge a few days ago I asked one of the staff there, and she had no idea of the difference, but to her credit she called their help desk who explained to her that it was correct, and that it had to do with the difference between international and domestic flights and the types of planes used.
Am I missing something here? Why would IN not be a valid class on an international leg (after all, my SFO-FRA on the outbound is booked in "IN")? I'm not sure I've ever seen IN actually be non-zero when "I" was zero so I don't think it really matters, but at least on principle shouldn't the waitlist be in IN?
The second leg (EWR-SFO) is waitlisted in "IN", which makes sense given IN>I.
However the first left (EDI-EWR) is only waitlisted in "I", which potentially means that if IN availability does appear (without "I" also appearing) I'll miss out. This is a UA metal flight (not partner), and obviously booked using the UA flight number.
Whilst in the SFO Polaris lounge a few days ago I asked one of the staff there, and she had no idea of the difference, but to her credit she called their help desk who explained to her that it was correct, and that it had to do with the difference between international and domestic flights and the types of planes used.
Am I missing something here? Why would IN not be a valid class on an international leg (after all, my SFO-FRA on the outbound is booked in "IN")? I'm not sure I've ever seen IN actually be non-zero when "I" was zero so I don't think it really matters, but at least on principle shouldn't the waitlist be in IN?
Nov 23, 2018, 7:31 am
#986
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,451
I've got an upcoming award booking, EDI-EWR-SFO, booked in economy (YN, one of their variable price awards), and waitlisted for business.
The second leg (EWR-SFO) is waitlisted in "IN", which makes sense given IN>I.
However the first left (EDI-EWR) is only waitlisted in "I", which potentially means that if IN availability does appear (without "I" also appearing) I'll miss out. This is a UA metal flight (not partner), and obviously booked using the UA flight number.
Whilst in the SFO Polaris lounge a few days ago I asked one of the staff there, and she had no idea of the difference, but to her credit she called their help desk who explained to her that it was correct, and that it had to do with the difference between international and domestic flights and the types of planes used.
Am I missing something here? Why would IN not be a valid class on an international leg (after all, my SFO-FRA on the outbound is booked in "IN")? I'm not sure I've ever seen IN actually be non-zero when "I" was zero so I don't think it really matters, but at least on principle shouldn't the waitlist be in IN?
The second leg (EWR-SFO) is waitlisted in "IN", which makes sense given IN>I.
However the first left (EDI-EWR) is only waitlisted in "I", which potentially means that if IN availability does appear (without "I" also appearing) I'll miss out. This is a UA metal flight (not partner), and obviously booked using the UA flight number.
Whilst in the SFO Polaris lounge a few days ago I asked one of the staff there, and she had no idea of the difference, but to her credit she called their help desk who explained to her that it was correct, and that it had to do with the difference between international and domestic flights and the types of planes used.
Am I missing something here? Why would IN not be a valid class on an international leg (after all, my SFO-FRA on the outbound is booked in "IN")? I'm not sure I've ever seen IN actually be non-zero when "I" was zero so I don't think it really matters, but at least on principle shouldn't the waitlist be in IN?
As you note, it may be academic. Also when booking with eligibility for IN, the booked class may (likely will) be I anyway, but that should not affect your waitlist request.
Nov 23, 2018, 7:51 am
#987
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: EWR
Posts: 80
Has is always been the case that Expert Mode will not show available fare classes when searching for an award ticket? I was going crazy this week trying to "fix" my expert mode display settings, but they finally showed up when I searched for a cash ticket.
Nov 23, 2018, 10:13 am
#988
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Floating around
Programs: UA 1K (1MM), DL Gold (1MM), Marriott LTT
Posts: 10,335
-RM
Nov 23, 2018, 10:31 am
#989
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,416
IN vs. I can actually make a difference these days.
Nov 23, 2018, 2:08 pm
#990
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,392
I've got an upcoming award booking, EDI-EWR-SFO, booked in economy (YN, one of their variable price awards), and waitlisted for business.
The second leg (EWR-SFO) is waitlisted in "IN", which makes sense given IN>I.
However the first left (EDI-EWR) is only waitlisted in "I", which potentially means that if IN availability does appear (without "I" also appearing) I'll miss out. This is a UA metal flight (not partner), and obviously booked using the UA flight number.
Whilst in the SFO Polaris lounge a few days ago I asked one of the staff there, and she had no idea of the difference, but to her credit she called their help desk who explained to her that it was correct, and that it had to do with the difference between international and domestic flights and the types of planes used.
Am I missing something here? Why would IN not be a valid class on an international leg (after all, my SFO-FRA on the outbound is booked in "IN")? I'm not sure I've ever seen IN actually be non-zero when "I" was zero so I don't think it really matters, but at least on principle shouldn't the waitlist be in IN?
The second leg (EWR-SFO) is waitlisted in "IN", which makes sense given IN>I.
However the first left (EDI-EWR) is only waitlisted in "I", which potentially means that if IN availability does appear (without "I" also appearing) I'll miss out. This is a UA metal flight (not partner), and obviously booked using the UA flight number.
Whilst in the SFO Polaris lounge a few days ago I asked one of the staff there, and she had no idea of the difference, but to her credit she called their help desk who explained to her that it was correct, and that it had to do with the difference between international and domestic flights and the types of planes used.
Am I missing something here? Why would IN not be a valid class on an international leg (after all, my SFO-FRA on the outbound is booked in "IN")? I'm not sure I've ever seen IN actually be non-zero when "I" was zero so I don't think it really matters, but at least on principle shouldn't the waitlist be in IN?
Award searches used to show inventory in Expert Mode, but it has been well over a year since that.