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}
Mar 11, 2012, 2:38 pm
#121
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Houston
Programs: UA Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 12,714
R/RN space is made available at the discretion of IM. There is no schedule and no transparency.
Mar 11, 2012, 4:48 pm
#122
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Las Vegas
Programs: DL Platinum, AA Lifetime Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Radisson Premium
Posts: 6,640
I have sbm12's table on bookmark as I memorize these.
I am still incorrectly confirmed in ON on two reservations but I will wait it out. Miles not posting on incorrectly confirmed ON flights so they should be fixed prior to travel in my recommendation.
From this chart, ti looks like being confirmed into R-Biz on PS flights is correct. Many thanks, for putting this together.
The one discrepancy I noticed is that as an elite I am being confirmed into R when the CPU has cleared (not RN). Is that SOP at the moment?
I haven't gotten any miles posted for recent flights, so I just want to make sure the system isn't confirming me into a fare class thats ineligible as with the ON case on 2-class flights.
I am still incorrectly confirmed in ON on two reservations but I will wait it out. Miles not posting on incorrectly confirmed ON flights so they should be fixed prior to travel in my recommendation.
From this chart, ti looks like being confirmed into R-Biz on PS flights is correct. Many thanks, for putting this together.
The one discrepancy I noticed is that as an elite I am being confirmed into R when the CPU has cleared (not RN). Is that SOP at the moment?
I haven't gotten any miles posted for recent flights, so I just want to make sure the system isn't confirming me into a fare class thats ineligible as with the ON case on 2-class flights.
Last edited by demkr; Mar 11, 2012 at 5:03 pm
Mar 11, 2012, 6:31 pm
#123
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Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: PSM
Posts: 69,232
ON is the only one that seems ripe for having this problem. Hopefully they'll get that squared away soon enough. If I had to bet I'd say the issue is that they didn't correctly map the underlying paid fare basis when those reservations came over so the system sees it just as an ON award rather than a paid fare -> upgrade which has historically credited just fine.
Mar 11, 2012, 7:03 pm
#124
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: SFO, JFK, PHL, etc.
Programs: UA GS 2Million, Marriott PP & LTPP, Amtrak Select Exec
Posts: 337
I was "instant upgraded" on a Y ticket yesterday, and noticed my boarding pass was issued in JN. Is that correct? From this list , that sounds like it was recorded as a free award ticket, not an upgrade on a paid ticket.
What are other people seeing on their upgrade boarding passes?
What are other people seeing on their upgrade boarding passes?
Mar 11, 2012, 7:08 pm
#125
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,325
I was "instant upgraded" on a Y ticket yesterday, and noticed my boarding pass was issued in JN. Is that correct? From this list , that sounds like it was recorded as a free award ticket, not an upgrade on a paid ticket.
What are other people seeing on their upgrade boarding passes?
What are other people seeing on their upgrade boarding passes?
Mar 11, 2012, 7:18 pm
#126
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 55
I'm confused, what is the bucket to look for if I want to see if a SWU will be cleared immediately?
Mar 11, 2012, 7:18 pm
#127
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: SFO, JFK, PHL, etc.
Programs: UA GS 2Million, Marriott PP & LTPP, Amtrak Select Exec
Posts: 337
A post on Wandering Armenians blog states JN is also used for Y-Up. That's what I show for the two Y-ups i did yesterday. The flight details on my reservation still show its going to earn 150% PQM
Mar 11, 2012, 7:39 pm
#128
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA LT Plat 2MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 67,193
Mar 11, 2012, 8:09 pm
#129
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Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: PSM
Posts: 69,232
Yeah...the website has had that problem for a few years now. The good news is that the miles nearly always actually post correctly so it isn't too big a deal IMO.
Mar 12, 2012, 2:13 am
#131
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 681
Intl saver reward "O" class?
Was checking reward seats for this week SFO to FRA and noticed UA website showed saver seats in business class. Just out of curiosity, checked same day/flights for revenue seats and it showed "ON1/O1" and "IN0/I0". I thought the chart says "O" is saver First class? Am I missing something? 
And the reward calendar also sometimes shows NO reward availability (all white) yet will offer business saver seats (some mixed biz/coach connections) and sometimes First saver seats. But that's a different issue.
Are these bugs that are yet to be resolved?
Edit: So after choosing flights, it indeed shows "I" even though it was zeroed out on the previous page. Definitely a bug
And the reward calendar also sometimes shows NO reward availability (all white) yet will offer business saver seats (some mixed biz/coach connections) and sometimes First saver seats. But that's a different issue.
Are these bugs that are yet to be resolved?
Edit: So after choosing flights, it indeed shows "I" even though it was zeroed out on the previous page. Definitely a bug
Last edited by Potreroflyr; Mar 12, 2012 at 2:21 am Reason: Update
Mar 12, 2012, 12:22 pm
#132
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: PHL
Programs: AA EXP MM, HHonors Lifetime Diamond, Marriott Lifetime Ti, UA Silver
Posts: 5,039
Anyone have any experience with changing an 'ON' ticket back to the correct 'R' fare basis?
I'm flying domestic tomorrow on a coach ticket upgraded to F using a cert. The flight shows up with 'ON' fare basis on my reservation
I'm flying domestic tomorrow on a coach ticket upgraded to F using a cert. The flight shows up with 'ON' fare basis on my reservation
Mar 12, 2012, 12:52 pm
#133
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Dallas, TX
Programs: AA EXP, SPG Ambassador/Plat, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 590
I don't think you should be concerned if you are already confirmed in F. The only concern I think is for those who are waitlisted in ON when they should be waitlisted in R.
Mar 12, 2012, 1:05 pm
#134
Guest
Posts: n/a
My facts: domestic mainline UA segment originally ticketed in V; upgraded to NF with a CR1 pre-3/3 conversion. The PNR migrated over into shares with this segment in ON as opposed to the correct R.
I called UA customer service asking to get the class changed to R (or Z or P or F or even the original V -- if they could preserve my seat and then re-upgrade me into R -- anything so the flight would credit). Also tried at the gate. No dice.
All understood the problem, but said it was impossible to change. They claimed 'R' could only be assigned by the computer -- there was no way manually to assign it. I suggested that, in the old UA, an agent could have overridden this fairly easily, rebooking me in a F-cabin revenue class while preserving the seat, but if that's possible no one knew how to do it.
The solution -- call MileagePlus a few days after your flight with the flight number, date, and ticket number, and they'll put through credit for you manually in the original ticketed class. The biggest challenge will be getting through to a human being.
Mar 12, 2012, 1:05 pm
#135
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: PHL
Programs: AA EXP MM, HHonors Lifetime Diamond, Marriott Lifetime Ti, UA Silver
Posts: 5,039
I'm not particularly worried about the upgrade. Others have reported issues with getting mileage credit though.