How to book fare classes, and should I?
Oct 1st, 2007, 12:02 PM
#1
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How to book fare classes, and should I?
Intro - I don't travel anywhere near as much as I'd like to, once or twice a year, transatlantic, mostly. So, I don't accrue many FF miles, although I am signed up w/UA and DL. Have their credit cards and am doing my best to rev up the economy and get miles that way, although when it comes time to pay the bills, my DH just doesn't understand that I am getting miles for all my purchases 
.
Anyway, how can I make sure that I get an upgradeable fare when I book, or at least how can I make sure that I know what fare class I am getting? I'm not sure that it would make sense for me to pay the extra $ to get anything other than a rock bottom economy fare, given my lack of FF miles, but I would like to have the information to make an informed decision. I usually book with kayak, or Orbitz, wherever I can get the best price.
.Anyway, how can I make sure that I get an upgradeable fare when I book, or at least how can I make sure that I know what fare class I am getting? I'm not sure that it would make sense for me to pay the extra $ to get anything other than a rock bottom economy fare, given my lack of FF miles, but I would like to have the information to make an informed decision. I usually book with kayak, or Orbitz, wherever I can get the best price.
Oct 1st, 2007, 12:09 PM
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I never booked with the above mentioned sites, but I imagine the booking process is similar to other travel/airline sites. If it is, somewhere along the booking process you should be able to see the fare code. It's usally a 5-6 alpha-numeric code, i.e. S14llN or something like it. The first letter always represents the fare code, in this case it would be S. Go to UA or DL sites and look up the info for upgrades. It should tell you what fare codes are upgradeable. If let's say S fare is not upgradeable then you would need to call the site you are using, and ask them to up-price to the closest upgradeable fare. If it is, then just book it and then contact UA or DL to request an upgrade.
Oct 1st, 2007, 12:53 PM
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Unfortunately, the DL website doesn't list which fares are upgradeable with miles but they are Y, B or M except on Hawaii routes where a few additional fare classes are upgradeable.
M fares (the least expensive upgradeable with miles fare except to Hawaii) are generally quite a bit more than the lowest economy fares. The DL website will show you the fare class when making a reservation. You can also search by fare class.
For the most part, you can only use DL miles to upgrade DL-coded, DL-operated flights. I believe the exception is full fare SQ flights, but I've never tried it. You used to be able to upgrade DL-coded, AF-operated flights with DL miles but I don't think you can do that any longer.
Verify upgrade availability <i>before</i> buying your ticket as waitlisted upgrades don't always clear and DL <b>will</b> fly with empty BE seats while passengers are still on the waitlist. Otherwise, you'll end up with a very expensive coach ticket!
M fares (the least expensive upgradeable with miles fare except to Hawaii) are generally quite a bit more than the lowest economy fares. The DL website will show you the fare class when making a reservation. You can also search by fare class.
For the most part, you can only use DL miles to upgrade DL-coded, DL-operated flights. I believe the exception is full fare SQ flights, but I've never tried it. You used to be able to upgrade DL-coded, AF-operated flights with DL miles but I don't think you can do that any longer.
Verify upgrade availability <i>before</i> buying your ticket as waitlisted upgrades don't always clear and DL <b>will</b> fly with empty BE seats while passengers are still on the waitlist. Otherwise, you'll end up with a very expensive coach ticket!
Oct 1st, 2007, 12:56 PM
#4
Use the advanced options on United's website and you have the option to specify upgrade-eligible fares on longhauls (M and H in most cases.) I doubt you can do so using any online travel agency.
Can't do anything similar with Delta AFAIK. Phone, be prepared to pay extra, and don't get your hopes up.
Can't do anything similar with Delta AFAIK. Phone, be prepared to pay extra, and don't get your hopes up.
Oct 1st, 2007, 01:06 PM
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You can't upgrade with miles online with DL but you can search by fare class under Full Search Options, call DL to check availability and purchase your ticket online while you have to agent on hold to avoid the $20 telephone ticketing charge.
Can the whole process be done online with UA (I have no familiarity with UA)? At what point in the process does it verify availability? I'm at the point just prior to entering credit card info and I see "upgrade eligible" but I don't know if this means upgrades are available.
Can the whole process be done online with UA (I have no familiarity with UA)? At what point in the process does it verify availability? I'm at the point just prior to entering credit card info and I see "upgrade eligible" but I don't know if this means upgrades are available.
Oct 1st, 2007, 02:47 PM
#6
The whole process can be done at united dot com.
At the bottom of the search options on the left side, click on "More search options".
Click on the drop-down that says "No Upgrade" and you'll see various upgrade options. You'll see three "Miles*" upgrade options:
Miles- EMUHQVKWSTL applies to itineraries in North America but not other international trips.
Those letters EMUHQVKWSTL are basically in order from highest to lowest fare class.
Miles-MH are higher economy fares and international tix in these classes are upgradeable.
Miles-YB are the highest fares and are upgradeable.
The term "upgrade eligible" absolutely does NOT mean an upgrade is available. After you purchase your ticket you can go to "My itineraries" and apply for the upgrades.
If available, the upgrades will be confirmed immediately and you can select your seats. My Itineraries will say Flight: Confirmed, Upgrade: Confirmed.
If not available, then it will say Flight Confirmed, Upgrade Pending (or Waitlisted). Your upgrade can clear any time. I had a May booking for a December trip and the ug cleared in August. You stand a good chance of getting the upgrade eventually, I think, depending on route and date.
If you buy the ticket and the ug is not available you can get the ticket refunded in full as long as you do it within 24 hours of booking. Do this at My Itineraries or call United. This applies to any ticket.
Better yet, call before you book the ticket online and ask an agent if an upgrade is available. Would be best to know the schedule so that if your first choice is not available you can ask the rep to check later flights or different days.
Even better would be if you searched online. Go to united dot com and make sure your profile is set to "expert mode". Then go to the webpage for searching for awards. Enter your travel info and toggle on "Standard Awards" and search. On the search results, put your mouse cursor over "Show Flight Details" and you will see a display showing availability. NC9 means there are at least 9 seats available for upgrade from economy to business class. NC2 means two seats available. NC0 means no seats. For first class upgrades look at the NF number.
It's all explained here:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113792
Hope your flight is NF9.
At the bottom of the search options on the left side, click on "More search options".
Click on the drop-down that says "No Upgrade" and you'll see various upgrade options. You'll see three "Miles*" upgrade options:
Miles- EMUHQVKWSTL applies to itineraries in North America but not other international trips.
Those letters EMUHQVKWSTL are basically in order from highest to lowest fare class.
Miles-MH are higher economy fares and international tix in these classes are upgradeable.
Miles-YB are the highest fares and are upgradeable.
The term "upgrade eligible" absolutely does NOT mean an upgrade is available. After you purchase your ticket you can go to "My itineraries" and apply for the upgrades.
If available, the upgrades will be confirmed immediately and you can select your seats. My Itineraries will say Flight: Confirmed, Upgrade: Confirmed.
If not available, then it will say Flight Confirmed, Upgrade Pending (or Waitlisted). Your upgrade can clear any time. I had a May booking for a December trip and the ug cleared in August. You stand a good chance of getting the upgrade eventually, I think, depending on route and date.
If you buy the ticket and the ug is not available you can get the ticket refunded in full as long as you do it within 24 hours of booking. Do this at My Itineraries or call United. This applies to any ticket.
Better yet, call before you book the ticket online and ask an agent if an upgrade is available. Would be best to know the schedule so that if your first choice is not available you can ask the rep to check later flights or different days.
Even better would be if you searched online. Go to united dot com and make sure your profile is set to "expert mode". Then go to the webpage for searching for awards. Enter your travel info and toggle on "Standard Awards" and search. On the search results, put your mouse cursor over "Show Flight Details" and you will see a display showing availability. NC9 means there are at least 9 seats available for upgrade from economy to business class. NC2 means two seats available. NC0 means no seats. For first class upgrades look at the NF number.
It's all explained here:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113792
Hope your flight is NF9.
Oct 1st, 2007, 03:06 PM
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Thanks for explaining the UA process, mrwunrfl!
I forgot to mention that aside from calling DL, you can check upgrade availability with a subscription to Expert Flyer, but you still have to call DL to confirm. It would be more streamlined if they added this functionality to their website.
I forgot to mention that aside from calling DL, you can check upgrade availability with a subscription to Expert Flyer, but you still have to call DL to confirm. It would be more streamlined if they added this functionality to their website.
Oct 1st, 2007, 04:10 PM
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First, be aware that some tickets sold through third parties don't earn any miles, so you should be careful to read all of the rules when you buy (apparently, most of us don't take the time, nor have the knowledge to read the rules, so we just check the block saying we have read and understand the rules). Once I bought two tickets through one of those agencies, but the rules they posted apparently applied only to one of the tickets; the other earned no miles. After I whined extensively, the airline had mercy and gave me the miles when they really didn't have to; since then, I have always bought directly from the airlines.
If you have a lot of time and patience, you can dig out the rules for each fare class (a flyertalk forum would be the best place to inquire), at which point you will realize that, in most cases, the fare code differences are not material, and you have wasted your time looking at them. For example, one fare code may apply to a ticket bought more than thirty days prior to the flight; a separate code applies to a ticket bought less then thirty days but more than 14 days prior to the flight. Same seats, same miles earned, possibly a slight difference in the price, but how can you turn back the calender to get the lower price? Some fare codes identify the ticket as nonrefundable, but you can usually find that out without looking up the codes.
Usually, I think frequent flyers are the only people concerned with fare codes, because they know some codes affect the miles earned (from 50 percent to 150 percent of miles in the flight, on my favorite airline), and I think now it is becoming common that you have to pay a fee in addition to miles for an upgrade, and the fee varies with the fare code.
I just finished buying upgraded tickets to Amsterdam, and the agent (at Continental) was quite good, both in finding flights on sister airlines, and in calculating the best price depending on fare code (the supplement, in addition to miles, varies from $0 to $450, each way, depending on fare code; I was glad to have a knowledgeable agent to work this out for me; I'm certain he did better than I would have myself. Our tickets ended up costing about a third of what a nonrefundable front cabin ticket would have cost, so I was glad to spend a few thousand miles.
On the continental web site, you can specify the fare class when you do your search, then pick out a flight, read the conditions associated with that fare class, and decide whether to buy or not. It would take quite a bit of time to do this for each fare class, and I don't think it would be worth the effort.
Incidentally, fare classes can vary from airline to airline, so you will have to do research at every airline you may use to become fully overinformed.
If you have a lot of time and patience, you can dig out the rules for each fare class (a flyertalk forum would be the best place to inquire), at which point you will realize that, in most cases, the fare code differences are not material, and you have wasted your time looking at them. For example, one fare code may apply to a ticket bought more than thirty days prior to the flight; a separate code applies to a ticket bought less then thirty days but more than 14 days prior to the flight. Same seats, same miles earned, possibly a slight difference in the price, but how can you turn back the calender to get the lower price? Some fare codes identify the ticket as nonrefundable, but you can usually find that out without looking up the codes.
Usually, I think frequent flyers are the only people concerned with fare codes, because they know some codes affect the miles earned (from 50 percent to 150 percent of miles in the flight, on my favorite airline), and I think now it is becoming common that you have to pay a fee in addition to miles for an upgrade, and the fee varies with the fare code.
I just finished buying upgraded tickets to Amsterdam, and the agent (at Continental) was quite good, both in finding flights on sister airlines, and in calculating the best price depending on fare code (the supplement, in addition to miles, varies from $0 to $450, each way, depending on fare code; I was glad to have a knowledgeable agent to work this out for me; I'm certain he did better than I would have myself. Our tickets ended up costing about a third of what a nonrefundable front cabin ticket would have cost, so I was glad to spend a few thousand miles.
On the continental web site, you can specify the fare class when you do your search, then pick out a flight, read the conditions associated with that fare class, and decide whether to buy or not. It would take quite a bit of time to do this for each fare class, and I don't think it would be worth the effort.
Incidentally, fare classes can vary from airline to airline, so you will have to do research at every airline you may use to become fully overinformed.
