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}
May 4, 2012, 6:45 pm
#211
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Anywhere but home
Programs: UA 1K/MM, DL GM/MM, HH Dia, PC Plat, MR Gold, ALL Sil,
Posts: 4,558
Yes, but I have found that R availability online is not reliable; many times, seats are available when online it shows R=0. YMMV.
May 4, 2012, 6:53 pm
#212
Join Date: Nov 2011
Programs: UA/CO, SPG, Hyatt
Posts: 162
May 4, 2012, 7:00 pm
#213
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: SMF
Programs: UA Gold, 1 MM
Posts: 11,632
Then just call UA, ask the GPU to be applied to the international segment, and be waitlisted for the domestic segment.
May 4, 2012, 11:19 pm
#214
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: body: A stone's throw from SFO, mind: SE Asia
Programs: Some of this 'n some of that
Posts: 17,263
May 5, 2012, 9:04 pm
#216
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Illinois-downstate
Programs: UA 1K, UA MM, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 955
I just applied GPU to an H fare to FRA. Fingers crossed. What is HN?
May 6, 2012, 5:44 pm
#217
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Austin, Tx
Programs: DL PM, HH Plat, National Executive
Posts: 210
Doesn't I Fare translate to upgrade?
I may have misunderstood a previous post I read (linked below). But I thought if there was an I fare (aka NC) available you were eligible for the complimentary upgrade at your window - no?
I got the upgrade on my AUS-DEN leg right at T-72 mark with EF only showing one I fare and then 0 once I was confirmed. But when the DEN-PDX T-72 came and went, nothing. I checked EF and there are four I fare's (and 5 R's if I wanted to use miles - no thanks). To clarify, these four are still there. So, it's not like other pax with higher fares took them ahead of me.
Maybe I just misinterpreted the fare description in the post below.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...-each-one.html
I got the upgrade on my AUS-DEN leg right at T-72 mark with EF only showing one I fare and then 0 once I was confirmed. But when the DEN-PDX T-72 came and went, nothing. I checked EF and there are four I fare's (and 5 R's if I wanted to use miles - no thanks). To clarify, these four are still there. So, it's not like other pax with higher fares took them ahead of me.
Maybe I just misinterpreted the fare description in the post below.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...-each-one.html
Last edited by charlesdemar; May 6, 2012 at 5:47 pm Reason: clarification
May 6, 2012, 5:51 pm
#218
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: PSM
Posts: 69,232
You're looking at the old fare list. The new one is explained here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...uckets-ua.html.
You need R for an upgrade; I is for regular award travel.
You need R for an upgrade; I is for regular award travel.
May 6, 2012, 6:20 pm
#219
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Austin, Tx
Programs: DL PM, HH Plat, National Executive
Posts: 210
You're looking at the old fare list. The new one is explained here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...uckets-ua.html.
You need R for an upgrade; I is for regular award travel.
You need R for an upgrade; I is for regular award travel.
May 6, 2012, 6:23 pm
#220
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: HNL
Programs: United Gold
Posts: 1,581
I recently booked award travel to HKG in Global First. Should I be concerned that the fare class is O instead of ON? I'm 1K so shouldn't I be booked in ON?
May 6, 2012, 6:30 pm
#221
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: LHR (sometimes CLE, SFO, BOS, LAX, SEA)
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 5,899
To answer the rest of your question, though -- as to why a flight might show "R5" and yet not score you a complimentary upgrade at the T-72 window -- the answer is that complimentary upgrades now follow the CO model rather than the UA model. See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...they-used.html for a deep-dive analysis.
It helps a lot to understand that there is "no dynamic waitlisting", just a list that's processed every now and then. In particular, if you see that a flight is R5 and you buy it within "your upgrade window" (i.e. T-72), you will not immediately get upgraded and you may never upgraded. That's not the only difference between the previous UA system and the current system. But it's a pretty good test case: you will fully understand the current system once you understand why, in that system, a Gold member could buy a ticket the day before travel on a flight with R5 inventory and end up flying in coach.
It helps a lot to understand that there is "no dynamic waitlisting", just a list that's processed every now and then. In particular, if you see that a flight is R5 and you buy it within "your upgrade window" (i.e. T-72), you will not immediately get upgraded and you may never upgraded. That's not the only difference between the previous UA system and the current system. But it's a pretty good test case: you will fully understand the current system once you understand why, in that system, a Gold member could buy a ticket the day before travel on a flight with R5 inventory and end up flying in coach.
May 6, 2012, 6:59 pm
#222
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: PSM
Posts: 69,232
No need to worry. They don't have to book it into the elite buckets but they can.
May 6, 2012, 8:38 pm
#223
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Austin, Tx
Programs: DL PM, HH Plat, National Executive
Posts: 210
To answer the rest of your question, though -- as to why a flight might show "R5" and yet not score you a complimentary upgrade at the T-72 window -- the answer is that complimentary upgrades now follow the CO model rather than the UA model. See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...they-used.html for a deep-dive analysis.
It helps a lot to understand that there is "no dynamic waitlisting", just a list that's processed every now and then. In particular, if you see that a flight is R5 and you buy it within "your upgrade window" (i.e. T-72), you will not immediately get upgraded and you may never upgraded. That's not the only difference between the previous UA system and the current system. But it's a pretty good test case: you will fully understand the current system once you understand why, in that system, a Gold member could buy a ticket the day before travel on a flight with R5 inventory and end up flying in coach.
It helps a lot to understand that there is "no dynamic waitlisting", just a list that's processed every now and then. In particular, if you see that a flight is R5 and you buy it within "your upgrade window" (i.e. T-72), you will not immediately get upgraded and you may never upgraded. That's not the only difference between the previous UA system and the current system. But it's a pretty good test case: you will fully understand the current system once you understand why, in that system, a Gold member could buy a ticket the day before travel on a flight with R5 inventory and end up flying in coach.
May 14, 2012, 10:27 am
#224
Join Date: May 2004
Programs: UA 1K 2MM, BA Gold, SQ TPP
Posts: 1,487
I notice that international flights have PN buckets - does this mean that GPU upraded international flights book into this if the underlying fare is B/M (for elites)? Or is it still RN?
May 20, 2012, 1:36 pm
#225
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: LAX
Programs: UA GS 1.6MM, AA EXP 1.25MM
Posts: 36
How to tell if a flight has upgrades available?
How do you tell on the new United.com if a flight has upgrades available? If I remember correctly it has something to do with an N being next to a fare class right?
F4, FN4, A1, ON0, O0, J9, JN9, C9, D9, Z9, ZN9, P9, PN9, R0, RN0, IN0, I0, Y9, YN9, B9, M9, E9, U9, H9, HN9, Q9, V9, W9, S9, T9, L0, K0, G0, N0, XN0, X0
Is it when theres something like XN1 for an upgrade from coach to business?
Thanks for the help. Sorry if this is a repetitive question.
F4, FN4, A1, ON0, O0, J9, JN9, C9, D9, Z9, ZN9, P9, PN9, R0, RN0, IN0, I0, Y9, YN9, B9, M9, E9, U9, H9, HN9, Q9, V9, W9, S9, T9, L0, K0, G0, N0, XN0, X0
Is it when theres something like XN1 for an upgrade from coach to business?
Thanks for the help. Sorry if this is a repetitive question.