airfare terminology
This post is an attempt to explain in lay terms some of the terminology surrounding airfares and tickets.
BOOKING CLASS o BOOKING CODE
The seats on a plane are divided according to different fare levels. The amount reserved for each fare level depends on factors such as the time of the day, whether it’s high or low season, the demand for business tickets, the route, and so on. It is important not to mistake the service class (economy, business, first) for the booking class. The same service class can include several different booking classes.
The complete fare code is composed by a series of numbers and letters, for instance, VLXPX3MB. The first letter, in our example letter V, identifies the booking class which in turns determines the price of the fare. The rest of the code identifies a specific number of rules (LXPX3MB). The same set of rules can be shared by different fares, for instance VLXPX3MB, LLXPX3MB, QLXPX3MB. Usually the booking classes associated to the cheapest tickets are the first ones to be sold.
Which is the booking code associated to the lowest fares? It depends, each airline has its own set of letters representing booking codes. Generally speaking, letters Y, C and F are associated to the full fares (most expensive) of the economy, business and first classes.
Booking codes explain why two passengers on the same flight, sitting side by side, might have paid different amounts of money for a similar ticket.
CIRCLE TRIP
When you leave from an airport and do several stopovers on the way. The final stopover takes you back to your point of departure. You go from A to B, from B to C and from C back to A. B and C are stopovers (and not connections).
DIRECT
A flight between two points that mantains the same flight number. You do not have to re-check your baggage in or obtain a new boarding card. There might be one or more stops on the way. You might even have to change planes. It is not the same as a nonstop flight.
DOUBLE OPEN JAW
When the initial and the final airports are different. You go from A to B and return from C to D. The journey between B to C and D to A (if necessary) is the passenger’s responsibility.
END TO END
Combination of two rounds trips to form a full itinerary. The first round trip, from A to B and from B to A. The second, from B to C and from C to B. It is used as follows: first the outward journey of the first ticket (A to B); then the second ticket (B to C and C to B) and then the return journey of the first ticket (B to A). It can be useful to combine two promotional fares for as long as they allow end to end.
HALF ROUND TRIP BASIS
The price of a circle trip is half the cost of the sum of its round trips. The cost of A to B, B to C and C to A (A-B-C-A) is half of the cost of the following round trips: A to B and B to A (A-B-A), B to C and C to B (B-C-B) and C to A and A to C (C-A-C).
NONSTOP
A direct flight between two points with no intermediate stops.
ONE WAY
One-way trip. You can use two one way trips to form a round trip. Usually the fare for a one-way trip is much more expensive than half of the value of a return trip. The exception are low-cost airlines that often sell only one-way tickets.
OPEN JAW
When on a return ticket the outward flight ends on a different airport from the departing airport for the return flight. You fly from A to B and from C to A. The journey between B and C is your responsibility.
REFUND
It refers to the value to be refunded to the passenger in case he decides to cancel it. Sometimes there is no refund at all; instead, you can use the amount you paid to buy a new ticket. If you cancel this new ticket, there will not be a refund.
REROUTING
Changes to your itinerary (day, time, destination). The rules are different whether you make the changes before or after your first flight. If you do it before flying, you might have to cancel the ticket and issue a new one. When the trip has started, you can only change dates and times, but not the destinations.
ROUND TRIP
A round-trip ticket.
STAND BY
It allows the passenger to stand by the departure gate, minutes before the flight is due to leave, in the hope a seat will become available. It is different from wait list.
STOPOVER
Stopovers are intermediate stops or connections, lasting for most than 4 hours on domestic flights and more than 24 hours on international flights. However, if you reach an airport on the last flight available that day and embark on the first flight the day after, you will be on connection and not a stopover.
WAITLIST
A list where the passenger’s name is kept waiting for an airfare to appear on the system as available. Someone else might have booked a ticket but end up not buying it; his booking returns to the system to be sold again. Not the same as standby.
Category: airfares
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