Easy way to find out booking class before booking via online travel agents?

[JohnK]

I have not been able to find out the booking class before booking on Zuji, Expedia, Orbitz etc. It is not even easy to find out the fare basis or relevant details. Why do they make it so difficult? I know a lot of people do not care but it could not hurt to have that information readily available for those that are interested.

I am researching a BKK-SYD return in economy for June-September 2011 and have found a decent airfare (with highly desirable travel times) on Expedia and Orbitz which offers flights BKK-HKG-SYD-HKG-BKK on CX and QF. I would really like to know the booking class of the CX flights.

Any ideas that does not involve sending an email each time?

I have done some further research on ITA and can see the same itinerary (roughly the same price) and it has a fare basis of VLSS1YTH (booking class of V on all flights) which is good to credit to QFF. I have sent an email to a couple of travel agents in Thailand to see if they can ticket the itinerary and whether the cost is close to the one offered on Expedia and Orbitz.

Is there any chance that the fare basis on Expedia and Orbitz is exactly the same as the one found on ITA? Can someone post the fare rules of QFs VLSS1YTH fare basis for travel BKK-SYD and whether it is possible to have a stopover in HKG?

 

[oz_mark]

John,

On Expedia, you can find the fare rules after selecting the actual flights. On the flight details page, you will see a number of sections

1 Review flight details
2 Travel Insurance options
3 Review rules and restrictions

In section 3 the second last item should have a line about reviewing the rules applicable to the fare - with 'rules and restrictions' linked. Clicking on the link should take you to that which you seek:

From: Bangkok, Thailand (BKK-All Airports)
To: Sydney, N.S.W. (SYD-All Airports)
Fare Basis Code: VLSS1YTH
MAX STAY
FOR ROUND TRIP FARES
TRAVEL FROM LAST STOPOVER MUST COMMENCE NO LATER THAN 12
MONTHS AFTER DEPARTURE FROM FARE ORIGIN.

BLACKOUTS
NONE

DAY
NO RESTRICTIONS

etc etc
STOPOVERS
BETWEEN BKK AND AUSTRALIA FOR ROUND TRIP FARES
3 FREE STOPOVERS PERMITTED ON THE PRICING UNIT
2 IN SIN/HKG
1 IN SYD.

 

[Lendav Orav]

But in expedia you often get the message (along the lines of) "we are unable to retrieve the specific details of this fare... most fares are non-refundable and involve a change fee..." I tried calling expedia once and they were not able to help. This is definitely a problem.

 

[JohnK]

On Expedia, you can find the fare rules after selecting the actual flights. On the flight details page, you will see a number of sections

1 Review flight details
2 Travel Insurance options
3 Review rules and restrictions

I did look at that earlier but was not able to see the fare basis on the Expedia.com site

1 Review flight details
2 Review rules and restrictions
3 Select a booking option

and then the following message 'We have not received rules or restriction information for this flight. In most cases, the following rules and restrictions may apply:'

But on the Expedia.com.uk site I can now see the fare basis.

Now I am almost certain the online travel agents are selling VLSS1YTH but when I search Expedia.com the BKK-HKG-SYD option has disappeared replaced by BKK-SIN-SYD and looking at Expedia.com.uk outbound and inbound flights are displayed together as combinations and someone has loaded QF266 on most options as a joke so the best I could do is BKK-SYD-HKG-BKK.

I want to avoid the direct flight QF1 and/or QF2. I may have to route via SIN for outbound which is not a great loss but the good thing about going via HKG on inbound is that I can either leave SYD in morning and arrive in BKK at night or leave SYD late at night and arrive in BKK mid-morning. Almost perfect....

 

[JohnK]

Have had a reply from one Bangkok travel agent that they can book the exact fare basis with the exact flights I want.

Only downside is they have 3.5% surcharge on Amex payments and the airfare appears to be ~AUD50 more expensive.

Still only a small price to pay to get the desired flights. Just wish online travel agents would show the fare basis or booking class before committing to the booking....

 

[MiLK_MaN]

John,

On Expedia, you can find the fare rules after selecting the actual flights. On the flight details page, you will see a number of sections

1 Review flight details
2 Travel Insurance options
3 Review rules and restrictions

In section 3 the second last item should have a line about reviewing the rules applicable to the fare - with 'rules and restrictions' linked. Clicking on the link should take you to that which you seek:

Sorry to bring up a really old thread, but once you have the Fare Basis Code, is one of the letters in the code the booking class?

 

[oz_mark]

Sorry to bring up a really old thread, but once you have the Fare Basis Code, is one of the letters in the code the booking class?

The first letter. For example, for Qantas domestic, the following list shows the fare basis of red-e-deals:

EPTSALE
OPTDEAL
QPTDEAL
NPTDEAL
SPTDEAL

The first letter shows the booking class.

For domestic Flexi-Saver:

VFLEX
LFLEX
MFLEX
KFLEX
HFLEX

and so on.

 

[Mal]

The first letter. For example, for Qantas domestic, the following list shows the fare basis of red-e-deals:

Yep, normally that is the case (esp. domestic) - but there are some exceptions (eg some feeder flights, Kupp type fares ) and probably others I haven't come across. So yep, a good guide, but not always the correct booking class.