class confusion

Question - on my flight home yesterday, my ticket class was down as z, yet my boarding pass stated j - why is this? Is it standadrd practice to simply print boarding passes for one class in one category, rather than reflecting the class bought?

Originally posted by catsilversword
Is it standadrd practice to simply print boarding passes for one class in one category, rather than reflecting the class bought?

Yup - your boarding card will always show the cabin that you're in (J/W/Y) - it's your ticket that shows the actual fare class

Cheers

Michael

[preiffer]

It makes it easier for the crew & security guys to know who's entitled to fast-track, turn left on the plane vs turn right, CH access (to an extent), etc. if they standardise the class on the tickets.

Business Class is *normally* "J" or "C", so they can tell everyone, for example, that "holders of a J/C ticket can use fast track". Now, if they printed the actual fare class on your boarding pass, all these people would have to know each and every code for every airline to determine eligibility (and these vary wildly by airline, too).

Remember - business class is not called "business class" on every airline, and is therefore not printed on tickets:

BA = Club World
VS = Upper Class
AC = Executive First
AF = L«Espace Affaires


So no way to rely on that printing to know who's in business class and who's not...

[honey lamb]

That makes a lot of sense, Paul. Thanks

I knew they did it but never knew why

[ChuckC]

Great explanations, Paul and Michael. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if another reason to standardize the boarding passes is to minimize cross-passenger chit-chat: "My ticket says 'D' and I paid $XXXX. Oh, how much is a 'Z' fare?" I remember someone saying years ago that this was why the Americans developed so many fare classes -- keep 'em guessing!

Chuck-

[RichardMannion]

Here are the 'standard' classes:

A First Class Discounted
B Economy/Coach Discounted
C Business Class
D Business Class Discounted
E Shuttle Service (No reservation allowed) or Economy/Coach Discounted
F First Class
G Conditional Reservation
H Economy/Coach Discounted
J Business Class Premium
K Economy/Coach Discounted
L Economy/Coach Discounted
M Economy/Coach Discounted
N Economy/Coach Discounted
P First Class Premium
Q Economy/Coach Discounted
R Supersonic
S Economy/Coach
T Economy/Coach Discounted
U Shuttle Service (No res. needed/Seat guaranteed)
V Economy/Coach Discounted
W Economy/Coach Premium
Y Economy/Coach
Z Business Class Discounted

I've written a new section that explains this and fare basis in much more detail for the upcoming new version of the V-Book.

Thanks,
Richard

[ChuckC]

Not to do too much advertising, but I have to say that for those who have not read the "V-Book" you will find it quickly becomes a valuable source of information for you. Take a look here for a further description.

Chuck-

And you can even get your copy signed (ifyou attend a social!!)

Originally posted by RichardMannion
Here are the 'standard' classes:

A First Class Discounted
B Economy/Coach Discounted
C Business Class
D Business Class Discounted
E Shuttle Service (No reservation allowed) or Economy/Coach Discounted
F First Class
G Conditional Reservation
H Economy/Coach Discounted
J Business Class Premium
K Economy/Coach Discounted
L Economy/Coach Discounted
M Economy/Coach Discounted
N Economy/Coach Discounted
P First Class Premium
Q Economy/Coach Discounted
R Supersonic
S Economy/Coach
T Economy/Coach Discounted
U Shuttle Service (No res. needed/Seat guaranteed)
V Economy/Coach Discounted
W Economy/Coach Premium
Y Economy/Coach
Z Business Class Discounted

I've written a new section that explains this and fare basis in much more detail for the upcoming new version of the V-Book.

Thanks,
Richard

thanks! the different fares have always baffled me!

Originally posted by BelfastFlyer
thanks! the different fares have always baffled me!

A full description of them is here too

Cheers

Michael

[RichardMannion]

The link MCuth has supplied gives more detailed info in relation to how Virgin Atlantic use them. Each airline uses them differently; for example, T class on VS is the companion fare class for Economy, whilst on BA it is a discounted revenue class for World Traveller Plus.

Thanks,
Richard