Differences in fares on Air Tran?

[MamaParrotHead]

Can someone please explain to me the differences between the L, T and Q fare classes offered, besides price? They're all in coach. ??? I clicked on them individually and they all seemed to read the same thing. I'm confused, LOL. Thanks.

[FlyerTalker]

In the absence of a complete fare code and the cities involved, the only thing I can say is that they MAY have different rules, advance purchase/stay requirements or routing restrictions. Or they may not. Without reading directly, hard to compare.

 

The other point is that airlines use multiple fares codes on the same city-pair to allow for price differentiation through bucket inventory management. It could be same rules, just different subsets of inventory for sale.

 

One tip is to look at the number immediately after the fare bucket in the fare basis code. That is usually the number of days in the advance purchase requirement.

 

I don't fly AirTran, so I can't be more specific given what you're telling.

[parody]

A handy description of the codes used by AA can be found at http://www.flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Inventory_Classes_and_Mileage_Eligibility_(AA)

 

In general, while the 3 classes you list are all coach, there are "subtle" differences in that some are called "discount" while other are "deep discount". There may also be differences in characteristics associated with wait list, upgrade, frequent flier miles, bonuses, and award levels.

[MamaParrotHead]

So...considering I don't need anything refundable, transferrable or otherwise changed once I buy them, not using or collecting FF miles, and don't belong to any rewards programs, I might as well go for the cheaper price?

[parody]

I might as well go for the cheaper price?

 

Yes to your question, but for an economy coach seat did you actually have a choice to make when it came to selecting a booking class?

[MamaParrotHead]

Yes. I search MIL to FLL (on the Air Tran website) and there were three different price options available under coach. I right clicked on each and told me that category it was and explained the conditions of the fare.

[FlyerTalker]

Picking random dates in July, I found that L fares require a 14 day advance purchase, T fares require 7 day advance, and Q do not have an AP requirement. (Expert Flyer is your friend and mine).

[parody]

I search ...on the Air Tran website

 

I'm curious. Did you first search for flights on a website that first considers a broader range of airlines and based on that result went to the AirTran website or is there some intrinsic value in using AirTran?

[MamaParrotHead]

Not really, I've just seen a lot of fare sales for Air Tran recently, and was curious. Our smaller airport (MLI) has limited airlines that service it. Air Tran, Northwest, Delta, American, United. Delta and Air Tran are looking to be my best bets in the next month or two when I hope to book, based on fares to MIA or FLL and the times of the flights I want/need. I think. Any input? I appreciate the help, I get so confused when it comes to tracking down flights.

[parody]

Any input?

 

Unless you know precisely which airlines and airports you would like to use, it makes sense to use an airfare search engine that can look at all the options for you prior to (most likely, but not always) going to the website for the airline of interest. Studies have shown that most people visit multiple search sites when investigating air travel options. A good site to start with might be kayak.com and select nearby airports. (When the results page is displayed, it's an easy exercise to de-select any airports that you don't want to use.) As a cruiser, one very attractive feature is that you might find that the best option is to fly to FLL and return from MIA (or vice versa) and/or use airline A to Florida and airline B from Florida. Both of these options are generally not possible to investigate when using an airline's website. However, it may turn out that a single airline going to and from a single airport provides the best choice. At this point, going to their website provides an option to see if there are any "web only" fares that a search site may not capture.

[MamaParrotHead]

Thanks! I actually have been using kayak...get my daily alert. I was just checking out Air Tran as it doesn't show up on my kayak searches yet because they're only booking through 11/18 right now and I'll have to wait a few weeks (I think) for their flight schedule (for when I'm looking) to be released.

 

I appreciate the input.