When I buy an airline ticket, no matter if it is in Economy, Business or First class, all the tickets are coded with classes such as ‘Y’, ‘D’, ‘C’ etc. These are apparently the rescritions/conditions that apply to the ticket, which are not fully explained at the time of purchase. It is not possible to get the full explaination when tickets are purchased online and the travel agents are usually very coy about it when asked. Where can the traveler find this information easily in advance instead of only when changes to the travel plans needs to be made but can’t because the ticket has been bought with these restrictions.
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Those are the codes for the classes. A ‘Y’ is coach class, ‘C’ is business, ‘F’ if first class, and ‘D’ is business class discounted.
I sell people tickets and I really don’t know the answer. Most people buy the cheapest tickets first and as each class sells out the ticket becomes more expensive. My airline only has one ‘class’ not first and business. Y is the most expensive, but it is also fully refundable. N is for the free tickets, the rest are just varying prices as far as I can tell. Next time when buying tickets ask specifically for a refundable ticket, but expect to pay much more for it. Or better yet, ask the fare rules, 180 day max stay, $100 change fee, non-refundable. If you are buying off a discount website (expedia, orbitz etc) they probably will be non-refundable because you are buying the cheapest available.
People!
Fare codes are all different between airlines.
GENERALLY, most use Y to denote the coach cabin, J for domestic business, D for international business, and F for first.
Then, within each cabin are the various fares. So, on AA in F, you have revenue fares in F, P, or A. Same with the other cabins. But there are even different types of F fares, so you would need the entire multidigit code to know everything about the fare (i.e., just saying “F” is not enough).
You have to consult the individual airlines for what their own codes mean.
Those letters are known as “Booking Class”
Each letter is assigned to a specific cost.
In order to have a certain cost you must book your flight on that class or letter in the Resevations System.
And the letter is also the first character of the fare basis of the ticket or fare code.
Dallas-Houston
Continental Airlines
Economy class
One way tickets
Taxes not included
USD FARE
FARE BASIS
39.00 XA14PZN Book in “X” class
59.00 XA14FZN Book in “X” class
79.00 WA7FZN Book in “W” class
89.00 UA7AZN Book in “U” class
94.00 OA7RZN Book in “O” class
As an example:
X = Booking class
A = Advance purchase
14 = 14 days in advance
Restrictions are related to this booking class:
- Application
- Advance reservation/ticketing
- Stopovers
- Combinations
- Penalties
Your travel agent or the airline sales agent should inform you about this restrictions before you buy your ticket, well also once you have done it.
=0)
Good luck
Generally,
first class = A and F.
Biz class = C, D, Z, J and I.
Economy class = all other alphabets.
Im not sure what kinda encounters you had with other travel agents, but Im a travel agent and I do tell my clients regarding the fare rules. The basic conditions I would mention include min/max stay for the fare that my clients are paying, whether passengers are allowed to travel on other carriers with my ticket, whether changes of date/flight is allowed and the penalty charges involved if wants to change. Oh and when it is a cheap fare and there is no refund value, I would mention that too.
Buying online is cheap but of cos it does not provide you with all these details. Only way to find out is through the airline if you are buying online.
The airlines usually has like at least 3pages of rules and conditions for each fare(some can go up to 20+pages). They are not easy for a traveller to understand and not that useful unless you come across the situation. For example, they have rules stating that some fares is non-refundable unless there is ‘death in the family or due to medical reasons at which medical certificate must be produce to the airline at time of refund’ etc etc. All these information is hardly necessary for the travellers. Imagine telling that to a client whos in perfect health. Or the amount of time spent explaining to each and every travellers all the 20pages of rules.
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