Ticket Classes Explained

[MyData]

Hi

Can anyone shed any light on the codes used for ticket classes? Do they vary by airline?

I've become accustomed to 'C' (Business) and 'Y' (Economy) and a few other variants if using frequent flyer miles. On our latest multi-flight trip to Latin America I notice the classes are S, L, and Q for what I expect to be economy class. How do these differ from Y?

[Wannabe Flyboy]

The codes vary from airline to airline. To take BA as an example:

M, N, O, P, Q etc. - inflexible economy.
B, H - semi-flexible economy.
Y - fully flexible economy.
T - inflexible economy+
W - flexible economy+
I - inflexible business.
D - semi-flexible business.
J - fully flexible business.
A - inflexible first.
F - flexible first.

Then there are codes for staff travel, mileage redemptions...

[rsoman]

There also used to be

R - Unrestricted concorde!!!

I should add that the number of codes (or in official speak - RBD- Reservation Booking Designators) increased as more and more fares became available on the market and the airline yield management systems got linked to their inventory control.

[Globaliser]

rsoman: There also used to be

R - Unrestricted concorde!!!

Ah, how the mighty have fallen!