Help with fare codes, please!

Hi, all. I'm pricing up flights for next February/March for a work trip to SEA flying out of MAN. We want to fly PE on the VS leg and I need to send the details to the company booking the flights, but I am struggling to find out what the fare code is for the tickets. This is what I get in the fare breakdown: XLUF57MX How can I tell if this is a K, H, S or W fare? Many thanks

Hi spacedog, where did you get that fare code? The VS website by chance? It has been kicking out some truly bizarre codes lately.. I even had one last month that was just SUK (we figured S fare UK sale point; thank you Chill710)

The prefix X tells me that it is an economy fare bucket although the exact conditions will only be knowable to the airline or TA that fared it for you.

If you are looking for a PE fare the first initial on the fare line will be K or H for a restricted PE fare or S or W for a flexible option with attached conditions.

I assume you are doing somesort of dummy booking? The fare code generally appears on the 'fare break down' tab (well it used to!)

The X...... you quote is the fare conditions i.e. the rules for the fare - saturday night stay etc

If you just need PE then tell them 'PE' (unless you need it to be anything but K to be able to use miles to upgrade) - any competant TA should be able to handle that!

The X...... you quote is the fare conditions i.e. the rules for the fare - saturday night stay etc

The first X in the maths equation they have generated is the cabin locator isn't it? for VS that would be Economy (or Y for full fare bookings)

Thanks, everyone. To clarify, this code was coming up on the VS website when searching for PE fares. I couldn't see any of the right letters corresponding to PE fares, hence my confusion.

Thanks, everyone. To clarify, this code was coming up on the VS website when searching for PE fares. I couldn't see any of the right letters corresponding to PE fares, hence my confusion.

Understandable coz when I did a dummy booking for your flights to Seatle I got that same code in the 'fare breakdown box' whether it was for Economy or Premium Economy

I then searched for a supposed fare code for my Orlando dates and got all sorts of weird codes.

Oh the joys of the new system - not!! Sounds like a phone call is your only option to get the info required.

Thanks, everyone. To clarify, this code was coming up on the VS website when searching for PE fares. I couldn't see any of the right letters corresponding to PE fares, hence my confusion.

Any positioning or is it a non-stop flight?

Most restrictive conditions of the ticket perhaps? If there are any discounted 'Y' segments in the ticket for positioning purposes..

Unfortunately the new system brought along this 'enhancement'.

My rules of thumb -

• If it starts with W S H or K and you were looking at PE, then its probably telling you the fare bucket it books into.
• If it doesn't, then you have no idea what you will get until ticketed, where you can check using the 'view receipt' button in Manage Booking.
• If you don't think you know which bucket (when it doesn't start with W S H or K) then go on price.... is it insanely cheap or expensive... that will give you a clue.
• When in doubt, query ExpertFlyer to see what buckets are available to sell. If ExpertFlyer says no K and H then you know it must be S or W.
• Search for what you want, if the fare condition is not understandable, do the same search again but specify one of the higher fare buckets and see what happens to the price. Repeat this process until you find a fare code that matches the price of the original search, then you can be relatively sure thats what it is.
• If you need a specific fare bucket (for TPs or whatever) do NOT chance using the website, call VS and make sure you get the bucket you want.

Its all a bit of a palaver really. I submitted a request for improvement on this via the social media team many months ago. I asked for the ability to see the bucket before booking, like you can on the receipt once its ticketed. This was what the old website did. Ideally, it should also show TPs & Miles earned before booking, like the old site too.

Thanks for the help. I had the same when booking in PE - an X code. I wanted S or W, and searched for it, and it came back X. I did'nt book as I wasn't sure.

(I actually booked on another airline instead as I needed the fight and could not stand the pain of trying to work it out.).

Unfortunately the new system brought along this 'enhancement'.

My rules of thumb -

If it starts with W S H or K and you were looking at PE, then its probably telling you the fare bucket it books into. ....
...
...

Thanks for the clarity Commander. I wondered if it was just me who couldn't find this stuff on the new "improved" website. I do wonder if anyone at VS relises it is actually costing them loss of business, like Property1925 booking on another airline?

Cheers
Martin

Thanks for the help. I had the same when booking in PE - an X code. I wanted S or W, and searched for it, and it came back X. I did'nt book as I wasn't sure.

(I actually booked on another airline instead as I needed the fight and could not stand the pain of trying to work it out.).

Yes, this is exactly the issue I am having. We were trying to decide if it was better to request upgradeable Y tickets or just ask for basic PE tickets. I just like knowing the fare class when I book and am used to being able to figure it out, but when it threw up the X code I was flummoxed.