Comments on: Fun with Fare Basis Codes

By: Fun fare | Kiddygrips

Fun fare | Kiddygrips — Tue, 31 May 2011 23:22:21 +0000

[...] Fun with Fare Basis Codes – >> The Cranky FlierNothing like a little fun with fare basis codes to show my true dorkiness. A few years back, I worked in airline pricing for America West. There was something about arriving at work at 6a that made us a little loopy. [...]

By: » Must read: One letter on a plane ticket says a lot about you : To Be or Not to Be @abdolian.com

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 09:24:39 +0000

[...] Fun with Fare Basis Codes [...]

By: mumu

mumu — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:45:26 +0000

please where can I get the meaning or interpretation of fare basis codes ?

By: anne henderson

anne henderson — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 16:40:32 +0000

Some sod a .u. on aflight mant you got no food hope thats not right its a12hr flight

By: anne henderson

anne henderson — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 16:31:14 +0000

some sod told me we dony get fed with .u. ticket ihope thats not true 12hr flight

By: CF

CF — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 04:44:43 +0000

Ah yes, I can’t believe I failed to mention the excellent KVS tool. My apologies!

By: KVS

KVS — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 03:36:31 +0000

Andy: You can get this kind of fare information using the KVS Availability Tool: http://KVS.unrealnetwork.com/Tool/

By: jsgoldbe

jsgoldbe — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:26:09 +0000

My fave is the one I often get on UA: SA7AN. If reminds me just whos side UA is on.

By: Henry

Henry — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 19:49:36 +0000

I believe the DOT has I think put an end to this, but airlines used to send messages — often unkind — to one another via their fare codes, usually in response to anotehr airline’s pricing move. It was not uncommon to see fare codes along the lines of BAP7FUXX, with XX replaced by the two-character code for the “offending” airline.

By: CF

CF — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 22:30:30 +0000

Sadly, you can’t get this very detailed info anymore (as far as I know) without knowing a travel agent or someone at the airlines. Back in the early days when you could access eAAsy SABRE on Prodigy (whoa, flashback) you could get all this raw info, but no longer.

You can get pretty close using FareCompare.com. Rick Seaney, CEO of the company, pointed me to the following two links:

For fares for all airlines in a market:
http://www.farecompare.com/flights/-LAX/-SYD/market.html

For fares and schedule info for one airline in the market:
http://www.farecompare.com/flights/-US/-LAX/-SYD/schedule.html

(Just replace “LAX” and “SYD” with the cities you want. And in the second one, replace “US” with the airline you want. They must be in all caps.)

This gives you the lowest roundtrip and one way fares, but you can’t see the full rules for each one from here. Still, it’s a great resource.