JamieB said:
I have just joined Expert Flyer and would like to understand the routing rules a little better, if anyone can help if it's not too complicated ??
ok, I'll have a go at it.
JamieB said:
The Fare Basis Code is a booking code used by the airline to indicate the type of fare. The first letter is the fare class, in this case V. The L is likely to indicate its a Low season hare. Other common season indicators are H for High Season and K for Shoulder season. The BBC has no specific meaning except to identify the type of fare.
The next part is a poorly formatted table. I'll try to format it a bit better here:
Code:
QTE F/B BK FARE EFF EXP TKT AP MIN/MAX RTG
1 - VLBBC V R 2198.00 - - - ?? 4/ - PA01
2 - VLBBC V R 2198.00 - - - ?? 4/ - PA02
The QTE column is really just a line identifier. Its the Quote number. In this case you have been returned two quotes.
F/B is the Fare Basis as per above.
BK is the Booking Code or the fare bucket that the ticket will be booked in. This is usually the first letter of the fare basis. The R indicates this is a return fare and not a One Way. This also means it cannot be sold as a one-way fare by halving the return fare.
The fare is pretty straight forward.
EFF is the Effective date for this fare. If defined, it is the first date that travel can begin for this this fare. In this case it is not defined so there is no such restriction for this fare.
EXP is the date the expires. In this case it is not defined so it is assumed to be valid for booking on all flight dates loaded into the res system (typically 355 days for Qantas).
TKT is the last date the ticket can be issued. In this case there is no entry so there is no pre-ticket issue restriction.
AP defines any Advanced Purchase restrictions. ?? can indicate this is a fare with complicated ticketing rules so further information may be required to fully understand this restrictions.
MIN/MAX indicates any minimum and maximum stay requirements. In this case there is a minimum of 4 days stay, so the return leg cannot be commenced until 4 days after the first international sector has been commenced.
The RTG column is an identifier to a routing definition below, in this case they are just labels called PA01 and PA02.
JamieB said:
*** NO APPLICABLE YY NLX TYPE FARES FOUND ADL-YVR **
YY is a code for all airlines and defines a generic IATA fare. In this case there were no YY fares found for the search for fares between ADL and YVR. NLX indicates both Normal (NL) and Excursion (X) fares were searched.
JamieB said:
PA01 /VIA THE PACIFIC/
ADL-SYD/MEL/BNE-HNL-SFO/LAX-QF/AS/AC-YVR
ADL-SYD/MEL/BNE-NAN-HNL-SFO/LAX-QF/AS/AC-YVR
ADL-SYD/MEL/BNE-ZQN/WLG/CHC-AKL-SFO/LAX-QF/AS/AC-YVR
BETWEEN AKL AND CHC SURFACE SECTOR REQUIRED
BETWEEN AKL AND WLG SURFACE SECTOR REQUIRED
BETWEEN AKL AND ZQN SURFACE SECTOR REQUIRED
PA02 /VIA THE PACIFIC/
ADL-MEL/BNE-SYD/MEL/BNE-SYD-HNL-SFO/LAX-QF/AS/AC-YVR
ADL-MEL/BNE-SYD/MEL/BNE-SYD-NAN-HNL-SFO/LAX-QF/AS/AC-YVR
ADL-MEL/BNE-SYD/MEL/BNE-SYD-ZQN/WLG/CHC-AKL-SFO/LAX-QF/AS
/AC-YVR
ADL-MEL/BNE-SYD/MEL/BNE-HNL-SFO/LAX-QF/AS/AC-YVR
ADL-MEL/BNE-SYD/MEL/BNE-NAN-HNL-SFO/LAX-QF/AS/AC-YVR
ADL-MEL/BNE-SYD/MEL/BNE-ZQN/WLG/CHC-AKL-SFO/LAX-QF/AS/AC-
YVR
BETWEEN AKL AND CHC SURFACE SECTOR REQUIRED
BETWEEN AKL AND WLG SURFACE SECTOR REQUIRED
BETWEEN AKL AND ZQN SURFACE SECTOR REQUIRED
These are the routing restrictions for the two fares returned, indicated by the two lables PA01 and PA02. In this case the two fares are basically the same and the routing options are very similar. The ticket must have a routing that follows one of the lines in the applicable PA01 or PA02 sections. Segments are shown with the "-" and a "/" separates optional cites. Generally intermediate locations can be skipped. So the first line indicates one routing option is:
Travel commences in ADL and first segment is to either SYD, MEL or BNE. The travel continues to HNL, and then on to SFO or LAX. Note that skipping HNL would be acceptable and is necessary in the case of routing through BNE or MEL. Onward travel to YVR can then be on any of the airlines listed, being Qantas, Alaska Airlines, or Air Canada.
So options for this routing are:
ADL-SYD-LAX-YVR
ADL-SYD-SFO-YVR
ADL-SYD-HNL-LAX-YVR
ADL-SYD-HNL-SFO-YVR
ADL-BNE-LAX-YVR
ADL-MEL-LAX-YVR
However, if QF was to commence direct flights MEL-SFO or BNE-SFO then this fare would be valid for those sectors.
The third option in the PA01 routing table includes routing through various NZ cities. But we know that QF only flies AKL-LAX out of NZ to North America. So the rule states that any connection within NZ to get to AKL to depart NZ must be a surface sector, which means it is not included in this fare and must be arranged and paid separately by the traveller.
I hope this helps. And if anyone spots any errors, please shout.
